Does selling trinkets in malls sound like a very sophisticated way to engage in espionage against the US government? What could they have uncovered of a top secret nature trying to sell art and taking photographs?
It does sound like they were attempting to infiltrate Arab terrorist groups and spy on them for their own protection. Afterall, much of Hamas's money was raised here in the USA.
From the article:
Investigators are focusing part of their efforts on Israelis who said they are art students from the University of Jerusalem or Bezalel Academy and repeatedly made contact with U.S. government personnel by saying they wanted to sell cheap art or handiwork.Documents say they "targeted" and penetrated military bases, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, dozens of government facilities and even secret offices and unlisted private homes of law enforcement and intelligence personnel.
Hmmmmm... They sold some "starving artist" paintings to military bases, gov't offices, and/or the homes of gov't personnel. Check the paintings or their picture frames for bugging devices!
Depending on which malls they were selling the Puzzlecar & Zoomcopter in, maybe those should be checked for bugging devices as well. (IOW, are the malls close to military bases/CIA HQ, etc.?)