Security forces have arrested three citizens suspected of conducting security activities under the direction of Iranian intelligence. The investigation revealed that one of the suspects, a 21-year-old from Beit Shemesh, was in contact with a Telegram profile named “Anna Elena,” being asked to perform various tasks in Israel, including hanging posters and planting money.
The Shin Bet and the National Unit for International Investigations (Yahbal) uncovered an infrastructure of Iranian intelligence agencies that operated in recent months under the guise of foreign entities, targeting Israeli citizens to recruit and activate them for various missions in Israel.
As part of this, in a joint investigation by the Israel Police and the Shin Bet, Yahbal detectives arrested three Israeli citizens for questioning over the past two weeks on suspicion of conducting security activities in Israel under the direction of Iranian intelligence agencies.
The investigation revealed that one of the suspects, Elimelech Stern, a 21-year-old Israeli citizen from Beit Shemesh, was in contact via Telegram with a profile named “Anna Elena,” being asked to perform various tasks in Israel. Stern was requested to hang posters in Tel Aviv, plant money at multiple points in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, deliver packages containing a severed animal head or doll alongside a knife and a threatening message to be placed at the doorstep of Israeli citizens, set a forest on fire, and more. The investigation also revealed that Stern agreed to perform the tasks, except for murder and forest arson.
Stern recruited two additional Israeli citizens, who carried out some of the missions for financial compensation, to hang posters, plant money, and deliver packages. Stern received payment from “Anna Elena” in cryptocurrency for carrying out the missions. He received the initial job offer from the Iranians via a Telegram user for just a few hundred shekels.
The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office filed an indictment today against Stern in the Jerusalem District Court, charging him with contact with a foreign agent. The two additional citizens he recruited were questioned and released from custody at the end of their investigation, pending a decision in their case.
The Iranian modus operandi
The use of this method, which involves approaching Israeli citizens through social networks under pretenses regarding the identity of the contracting party, is a known modus operandi of Iranian intelligence bodies. The use of this method as a platform for recruiting Israelis through deception to carry out tasks, even those seemingly innocent, provides a convenient and available platform for actual harm to state security. In recent months, many fictitious profiles used by Iranian security agencies have been identified and monitored, and extensive information has been gathered about the entities behind their operation.
These approaches were made through social platforms and websites offering casual paid jobs, with activity conducted across all social networks, including Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter (X), presenting Israeli citizens with pretenses to establish initial contact. The approach was made in various languages, including Hebrew and English. Additionally, mass text messages were detected with a similar cover, including a link leading to a Telegram channel with a referral to the website of the International Security Agency of Iran. Many Israeli citizens who received these suspicious approaches refrained from responding to them and even alerted relevant authorities.
A senior official said: “In this complex period, where the digital space is being used for intimidation, message transmission, or promoting terrorist activity under the guise of innocent activity, we recommend the public to be vigilant regarding approaches from unfamiliar sources and to avoid providing personal details and opening links from unidentified sources.”
Attorney Oshri Ben Yishai, representing Elimelech Stern, said: “The family is in complete shock. They don’t understand where this came from. They are lovers of the state and do not belong to extreme streams. They help the state, even during the war. One cannot attribute motives against the state to him.”
