According to sources, the Israeli intelligence service Mossad hired short-term staff in Türkiye through dubious-looking job ads. The candidates, which included foreigners in the country, were then employed to run reconnaissance work on Palestinians residing in the country.
Mossad’s tactics came to light after Türkiye announced the detention of 34 suspects earlier on Tuesday for working for Mossad with the purpose of surveillance of Palestinians and attempting to attack or kidnap them.
The National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul and the intelligence department of the Turkish National Police have conducted the joint operation in Istanbul and seven other provinces. Most of the detainees were foreign nationals.
They were among 46 suspects identified by Turkish authorities, and some left Türkiye long before the operations. Sources say some among them were short-term "workers" for Mossad, employed for "tactical work" and utilized for "actions targeting Palestinians in Türkiye and their families."
Mossad resorted to job ads "with scarce details" on social media or online chatrooms to lure potential recruits. Recruits were initially given minor tasks and contacted by Mossad operatives through Telegram and WhatsApp.
The operatives strictly used written communication to contact recruits while payments were made through couriers or middlemen. Israeli intelligence also turned to cryptocurrency and wire transfers to dodge tracking of the monetary transfers, according to sources.
The couriers and middlemen were also found through social media job postings by Mossad operatives, convincing the carriers that the money was used in illegal betting operations and that secrecy was required.
The sources said that the Israeli intelligence was involved in a wide range of operations in Türkiye, from collecting data, photo/video surveillance of their targets and tracking their marks with GPS devices planted on vehicles of targets.
They are also accused of being involved in assault, arson, blackmail, running websites and disseminating false news to achieve their goals of disinformation. Israeli intelligence is also involved in hacking activities ranging from collecting IP numbers of their targets to hacking into security cameras in the areas where targets are tracked.
Aside from "short-term employees," the Israeli intelligence recruited others and met them abroad to avoid detection by Turkish intelligence and secure its own operatives.
Operatives hosted potential recruits on posh vacations abroad to lure them and asked them to undergo polygraph tests. They paid cash to recruits they met abroad and helped them to take money back to Türkiye in specially designed bags to avoid detection at customs. The meetings abroad also ensure the security of its operatives and avoid being targeted by Turkish intelligence. These meetings were held at luxurious hotels, and upscale restaurants, where operatives also enjoyed exclusive tours.
Recruits were trained on intelligence and secret communication tactics abroad by Mossad. They were also used for various tasks, from smuggling people and goods from Turkish-Iranian and Turkish-Iraqi borders, setting up safe houses, employing hackers and in some cases, setting up ambulance companies, to be used in intelligence operations.
Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has been carrying out extensive operations against Israel’s intelligence service Mossad, which has been spying on Palestinians in the country and attempting to abduct them.
Operation Muteni
Launched in October 2021, 29 people were detained in Operation Muteni, which targeted three different groups of Mossad agents. The first group included individuals used by Mossad to reach their goals. They attempted to track the local and foreign contacts of Palestinian targets, access their official documents, track their IP numbers, as well as tracking down the movement of Shiite militias on the Israel-Syria border. The second group consisted of squads trying to abduct Palestinian hacker Omar A., who worked as a hacker for Hamas. The third group included foreign nationals who acted as mediators to transfer money.
Operation Neoplaz
This operation was carried out in December 2022 68 suspects were detained. The suspects consisted of two groups. The first group consisted of detectives used by Israeli agents in Türkiye, who collected biographic data about Palestinians, carried out reconnaissance, inquiry work and took photographs and videos, installed tracking devices, found couriers and carried out cyber duties. The second group of suspects included those who did tactical work for Mossad, including creating and managing WhatsApp groups, setting up and managing websites, creating online news sites, research, money transfer, photo and video documentation, causing bodily harm, robbery and acquiring mobile lines for operations.
Operation Nekpet
This operation was conducted in April 2023 and foiled the detective network managed by Selçuk Küçükkaya for Mossad’s spying activities in Türkiye. Some 17 suspects were detained by Turkish security forces. Mossad made the initial contact with Küçükkaya through Serkan Özdemirci, a Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) fugitive. Face-to-face meetings took place in unidentified European countries, according to sources, who noted that they were trained on how to use secret communication channels. These channels were then used to give instructions on tracking, monitoring Palestinian targets, as well as how to illegally transfer good and humans through the Türkiye-Iran border, finding hackers, finding "safe homes" and arranging ambulances if necessary. They also gave instructions for robbery, extortion, sabotage and other criminal acts against Palestinian targets in Türkiye.
Operation Mole/Necropolis (Köstebek/Nekropol)
This is an ongoing operation, which involves legal action against 46 suspects. There are two groups of suspects in the operation. The first group consists of those who contacted the Israeli intelligence agency through the phone and those who have financial contacts with the Israeli intelligence.
Thirty-four suspects were detained on Tuesday, authorities announced. Operations are underway to capture the other suspects. Authorities said operations were held in eight provinces against people suspected of involvement in espionage activities for Israel.
The investigation found that Israeli intelligence was behind activities targeting foreigners residing in Türkiye, from reconnaissance to assaults and abduction attempts. No other details are available regarding the investigation, but Mossad was implicated in the past in investigations about attempts to kidnap Palestinians living in Türkiye.