The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday sentenced an Israeli man to 4.5 years in jail for offering to spy on Israel for Iran. Yitzhak Bergel, 46, admitted to charges of contacting a foreign agent, intent to commit treason and attempting to aid an enemy of Israel. He accepted a plea bargain of 4.5 years imprisonment. Bergel belongs to the fringe ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect Neturei Karta, which opposes Israel's existence on religious grounds. It opposes the existence of a Jewish state in the Holy Land until the advent of the messiah. Adherents of the sect have met with leaders in Iran in recent years. According to the ruling, Bergel flew to Berlin in 2011, contacted the Iranian Embassy there and offered to do reconnaissance on Israel. The court approved the plea bargain proposed by Bergel's lawyer, Yair Nehorai, because "no damage was caused to state security." The incident was uncovered following a joint investigation between the Shin Bet security agency and the international division of the Israel Police's Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit. "It has been 100 years since the great rabbis decided that it is forbidden to establish a [Jewish] state before the coming of the messiah," said Bergel during his investigation. "Therefore the state [of Israel] is forbidden and we must protest it." According to the indictment, Bergel decided to offer to collect information for Iran and then checked on the Internet to see where Iran had diplomatic missions. After learning there was an Iranian embassy in Berlin, he bought a plane ticket to Germany. In 2011, when Bergel flew to Germany, he arrived at the Iranian Embassy and met with three unknown individuals, saying he was an Israeli citizen belonging to the Neturei Karta sect. He explained his beliefs and opposition to Israel, and offered to conduct reconnaissance on Israel for Iran, going so far as to say he would be prepared to murder a Zionist. During his investigation, Bergel revealed he had approached the Libyan Embassy in a European country a few years ago, seeking citizenship. Prior to joining the Neturei Karta sect, Bergel was secular and even served in the Israel Defense Forces, but was discharged before completing his service.
