Israeli businessman arrested on suspicion of passing on secret information to Iran

Israel has arrested a man on suspicion of passing on sensitive information to its arch-enemy Iran, the Shin Bet internal security service announced on Monday, weeks after he was taken into custody.

The suspect allegedly handed over information to agents of Iran's intelligence service through a Lebanese-Iraqi contact, Shin Bet said.

He is accused of contact with a foreign agent and of passing information to an enemy.

According to a report in Haaretz newspaper, the suspect is a wealthy businessman from the Bedouin community who is said to have had contacts with numerous Israeli politicians. He reportedly passed on information about Defence Minister Benny Gantz to his contact.

The businessman is said to have run into financial difficulties recently.

He was arrested in early June and was not allowed to meet with a lawyer for about three weeks, according to Haaretz.

Israel and Iran are arch-enemies. Israel accuses Iran of continuing to develop nuclear weapons and the Jewish state sees the Islamic republic as a threat to its existence.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has compared Israel to a cancerous tumour that must be uprooted and removed with a Palestinian "holy war."