JERUSALEM — Mark Idan, an Australian immigrant and Israel Defense Force veteran, was indicted Sunday on charges of offering his assistance to Iran and remanded for seven days by the Tel Aviv District Court.
The divorced, 37-year-old former kibbutznik had allegedly approached the Iranian Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus, over three years ago with the offer, but was arrested only on Oct. 31, when he returned after an extended period abroad. The case had been under a gag order until Sunday.
Idan was charged with contacting a foreign agent and harming state security, offenses punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
According to court documents released Sunday, Idan served for a short period in the IDF and later in the reserves. In June 1998 he went to Cyprus and entered the Iranian Embassy, saying he was an Israeli soldier and wanted to work for the Tehran government. An Iranian diplomat later informed him that they were not interested, the documents said.
There was no indication of what motivated Idan’s alleged actions.
The court accepted the state’s argument, submitted by Devora Chen, head of the criminal and security department of the attorney general’s office, that Idan would likely flee the country if he were released on bail.
“His deeds damaged state security,” the prosecutor claimed.
Idan admitted the charges against him. He also acknowledged that he had a criminal record abroad.
Idan left his native Australia and started traveling around the world in 1983. In 1987 he visited Israel and wound up staying. In 1990, Idan, a Catholic by birth, received permanent resident status after he married an Israeli woman.
From 1998 until he returned in October, Idan lived in various places abroad.
According to the indictment, Idan did not have a permanent residence in Israel, but members of Kibbutz Kfar Masaryk said the tall Australian showed up there in 1988 as a volunteer.
Kibbutz secretary Ofer Reis said Idan married a woman from the kibbutz, and they had a son in 1993. She said he worked in the fields, but separated from his wife in 1998 and left Kfar Masaryk.
The last she heard was that Idan had spent the bulk of the past couple of years in England, where he ran a pub.
Most people on the kibbutz in the North were shocked to hear the news about Idan.
According to the indictment, sometime in June 1998 Idan approached the consular clerk at the Iranian Embassy in Nicosia and handed him his Australian passport. It contained a piece of paper. The clerk unfolded it and read: “I am an Israeli soldier and want to work for your government.”
The clerk photocopied his passport and told him to call back later. The next morning Idan called again. The clerk told him the man who dealt with such matters had returned and he had shown him the note. “He is not interested in your services,” the clerk informed Idan.
A short time later, on June 24, 1998, Idan returned to Israel.