A dual American-Israeli citizen was charged Friday with spying on ex-IDF chief Herzi Halevi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the State Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Axar.az informs, citing Times of Israel, The defendant, 49-year-old Yaakov Perl, is a member of the Satmar Hasidic movement and apparently harbored a deep antipathy toward Zionism, which drove him to reach out to Iranian operatives online.

His arrest, carried out September 4, was initially announced Thursday by the police and Shin Bet.

Perl had been living in Morocco for the past several years, where he posted anti-Israel polemics online and partook in protests against Zionism. In 2017, he sought asylum in Iran for himself and his family, but received no response from Tehran, prosecutors said.

Like most other Israeli agents recruited by Iranian operators, Perl was compensated in cryptocurrency and made at least $15,000 for for the missions he carried out on Tehran’s behalf, which continued for six weeks after he returned to Israel in July.

Police claimed Perl was driven by “his ideological belief that action must be taken against the State of Israel and Zionism.”