Israeli authorities have filed charges against two suspects accused of using classified information to place bets on prediction platform Polymarket.
The suspects, a military reservist and a civilian, were accused of serious security offenses, bribery and obstruction of justice, according to a joint statement from the Shin Bet domestic security agency, Defense Ministry, and Israel Police on Thursday.
The wagers were related to Israel’s security operations, the agencies said in the statement, without elaborating on the details of the predictions or the sum yielded from those trades. The suspects made predictions “on the basis of classified reports, which reservists were exposed to in the context of their role in the military,” they said. It described the stakes as a threat to Israel’s national security.
Nir Cohen Rochverger, the lawyer for the reservist, said that authorities dropped the charge of harm to national security, but the man is still suspected of using confidential information without authorization. Rochverger called the indictment “flawed.” A lawyer representing the civilian did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative for Polymarket didn’t immediately respond.
An account on Polymarket correctly predicted a number of military events during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June, wagering tens of thousands of dollars, Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11 said in a report last month. The bets paid about $150,000, Kan reported.
Prediction markets like Polymarket have come under increased scrutiny for a growing number of contracts on the outcome of military conflicts. Bets over war in the Middle East are popular on the platform, with some $238 million placed over the timing of a potential US strike on Iran.
Polymarket bets over the ouster of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro has also sparked an uproar, with US lawmakers questioning whether some participants who made successful trades were acting on confidential information.
