“Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, arouse Thyself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to any iniquitous traitors” (Psalms 59:6)

A member of the ultra-orthodox anti-Zionist group, Natorei Karta, was charged on Thursday with making contact with Iranian agents in an attempt to pass along sensitive Israeli information, according to the Jerusalem Post. The Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency, had reportedly apprehended the man last month. A police source told The Jerusalem Post earlier this week that the suspect lived in Jerusalem’s Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood.

The Jerusalem State Attorney’s Office filed the indictment with the district court on charges of intent to commit treason and contacting a foreign agent. There had previously been a media blackout on the case, and a gag order remains on the haredi man’s identity.

What is known is that the suspect, a 47 year-old man, at an unknown date, chose to make contact with Iranian government representatives, offering to to gather intelligence on Israel and send it back to them, according to the indictment.

According to the Post, On January 16, 2011, he flew to Berlin, and two days later approached the embassy there to tell the Iranians that he was an Israeli and wanted to speak to them. At the time he was clothed in his regular haredi dress, including black and white clothes, and tzizit  (ritual fringes).He was brought to Iranian representatives, including a man who introduced himself as Hagi Baba and two others, said the indictment. He told Baba that he was against the Jewish state, wanted the state to be taken over by non-Jews, was ready to provide them intelligence and was even ready to “kill a Zionist,” if necessary, according to the indictment. He baited the Iranians, asking them why they continued to fail to prevent sabotage and attacks by Israel within the Islamic Republic, said the indictment.

The Iranian response was described as one of annoyance, and expressed that he should certainly not seek asylum in their midst now that he has been apprehended, according to the indictment. He then returned to Israel on January 20, 2011 but he kept up his connection with the Iranian officials by email, using Internet cafes, and via telephone calls made from public phones near his place of residence in Jerusalem, the Shin Bet and the indictment said on Thursday.

The Shin Bet said that under questioning, the man confessed that he worked “out of a hatred for the State of Israel and in exchange for financial compensation.”

One place where he checked his email account for messages from the Iranians was the Vital Hotel at 141 Jaffa Road in the capital, said the indictment. Two spots where he used public telephone calls to contact the Iranians were on Straus Street and Kanfei Nesharim Street in the city.

Natorei Karta (Aramaic for “Guardians of the City”), is a fringe sect of haredi Judaism established in in Jerusalem in 1938 who believe that Israel can only be reestablished with the coming of the Messiah and therefore have endeavoured to undermine the current State of Israel, one they deem sacrilegious, at every turn. They are infamous for anti-Israel rallies around the world including the burning of Israeli flags and spitting and throwing trash at pro-Israel advocates at the annual Israel Day Parade in New York City. Perhaps the most egregious act continuously carried out by the ultra-radical group is their attendance at Iran’s Holocaust Denial conferences.

Last year, Arabic media reported that members of the sect met with Hezbollah officials in Beirut