An Israeli citizen has been charged with colluding with Iranian spies, as announced by Israel's domestic intelligence agency and police in a joint statement. The suspect, a 21-year-old named Elimelech Stern, is accused of completing various tasks assigned by a social media user using the pseudonym 'Anna Elena' in exchange for cryptocurrency rewards.
The tasks included posting public notices in Tel Aviv, hiding money in different locations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and delivering packages with threatening messages, such as a severed animal head, to Israeli citizens. While Stern carried out these tasks, he was also asked to start a forest fire and commit murder, which he did not fulfill.
The Israeli Security Agency (ISA), also known as Shin Bet or Shabak, revealed that Stern recruited and paid two other Israeli citizens to assist in some of the tasks. These individuals were interrogated and released pending further investigation.
The Israeli authorities did not disclose the specific method used to link the case to Iranian intelligence but mentioned that similar text messages referenced the website of the International Security Agency of Iran. They highlighted that Iranian intelligence agencies often use social networks to contact individuals under false identities.
Iran has reportedly intensified its efforts to recruit Israeli citizens for missions that may initially appear harmless but are intended to undermine Israel's national resilience and sow discord. The Shin Bet and Israeli police have identified and monitored numerous fake profiles linked to Iranian security agents, gathering substantial information about the individuals behind them.
These deceptive recruitment attempts were made across various social platforms, including Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter, in multiple languages like Hebrew and English. The authorities emphasized that using social networks to recruit individuals for seemingly innocuous tasks poses a significant threat to national security.
