Publishing names of Chareidi “Spies”

Another sensational article appeared today titled: “Beit Shemesh Avreich Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Spying for Iran”. Which, for the first time included the name of the “spy”.

First of all, by the wording of the judgement it is pretty clear that this fellow was no “spy”. He had no access to any classified information, or any information the Iranians couldn’t find by simply browsing Israeli media and public domain information [something they surely do, as all countries do in addition to genuine spying.] Apparently he was sent to do low level mischief like graffiti, propaganda flyers, vandalism, or maybe even less than that.

Which leads one to ask, what is Iran actually looking to accomplish with recruiting these petty ‘agents’ who don’t actually do anything meaningful and always get caught. [Because they have no training or encrypted communication gear or any of the things real spies use to avoid detection, so the whole thing is לכתחילה a joke.] The Iranian leaders may be ‘crazy’ on the ideological level, but their generals and “spy masters” aren’t completely stupid.

My guess is that the real objective of these ‘missions’ is simply to spread fear and mistrust in Israeli society. Something which is aided and abetted by making lots of noise about every such story. So, think for a second. Does this article and others like it actually HELP IRAN get what they want?

Then there is the Loshon Hara issue. Someone with the screen name “Supreme AI” wrote a long megillah explaining why there is a toeles and Pikuach Nefesh (no less!) need to publicize the name of the nebbech who got sucked into this narishkeit. If you are interested you can read it there. My questions on his מהלך are as follows:

Is there a Toeles or deterrence of any kind in publishing the name of the convict on an English website that primarily caters to Chutz La’aretz? [Sounds like a rather lame toeles.]

Is there any such Heter to do so for purpose of ‘deterrence’ to someone convicted by ‘Arkaos’? [As opposed to a Beis Din where there is at THEIR discretion.]

Does this person present any danger going forward that the tzibbur needs to be aware of? [Which would be the case for abusers etc., but definitely not for this fellow who we can be sure will never do this again.]

Did this person actually do anything that would brand him a bona-fide Moser? [He didn’t have access to anything remotely resembling classified information. As opposed to the IDF general who gambled online using information from a General Staff meeting and could have really endangered lives…]

Most importantly, you forgot that EVEN when saying Lashon Hara l’toeles, it is ASSUR to ALSO have ANY ulterior motive. Since everyone knows that the only real reason YWN included the name is to make the story ‘juicier’ and more click-worthy [and hence more profit i.e. 100% שלא לשמה], the Heter of Toeles doesn’t get started…