Israel Charges ultra-Orthodox Jew with Spying for Iran

Israel on Thursday charged an ultra-Orthodox Jew with spying for Iran, the Jewish state's internal security service said.

The man belonged to Neturei Karta, an ultra-Orthodox group opposed to the existence of the state of Israel, and he is suspected by Shin Bet internal security of having contacted Iran's embassy in Berlin in 2011 to offer intelligence.

The man, whose identity has not been revealed, stayed in contact with Iranian diplomats after returning to Israel, the Shin Bet said, without specifying why he had been in Germany in the first place or giving any other details.

"The detainee said in an interrogation (by Shin Bet) that he acted out of spite for Israel and for financial gain," the Shin Bet said in a statement.

Some 15,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews -- around two percent of the ultra-Orthodox population in Israel -- oppose the existence of a physical, man-made Jewish state before the coming of the Messiah.

Israel, the region's sole if undeclared nuclear power, and Western powers accuse Iran of using its atomic energy program as a cover for developing an atomic bomb. Tehran vehemently denies the charge.

Tensions between regional arch-foes Iran and Israel hit a high during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's eight-year presidency, marked by his repeated controversial remarks regarding the Jewish state, including the denial of the Holocaust.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has kept up Israel's belligerent rhetoric even after the presidency's change of hands in Iran, calling the incoming Hassan Rowhani a "wolf in sheep's clothing" who would "smile and build a bomb."