After the IDF and Shin Bet indicted 21-year-old Hasidic Israeli Elimelech Stern for working for Iranian intelligence agencies on Tuesday, his acquaintances said they were "shocked," to learn of the charges.
"He is a Hasidic yeshiva student, strictly following all the rules of the Hasidic community. At first, we all thought it was a mistake,” a student familiar with Stern said. “Then we realized he was probably involved, but surely not trying to do anything wrong.”
“His arrest was remanded for only three weeks rather than until the end of the proceedings against him, so we understand his situation is better now. There’s no proof he knew what he was doing. We understand he didn’t know who he was working for or why he was doing it,” he added.
Stern has been held in a correctional facility since the beginning of the investigation about two months ago. He was indicted on Tuesday for "security offenses," and his interrogation revealed that he received his instructions over the Telegram app of a user named Anna Elena and was directed to hang posters, hide money in various locations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, deliver packages including some containing decapitated stuffed animals and dolls as well as threatening messages to be delivered along with a knife, and placed at the doorsteps of Israeli homes.
He was also told to set fire to wooded areas. Stern agreed to all of the instructions but would not start a fire. He enlisted two more Israelis to carry out the missions in exchange for pay which he received from his handlers in crypto currency. His two cohorts were released after an interrogation and are awaiting the prosecution's decision on whether to indict them.
The indictment against Stern revealed that his Iranian handler asked him via the Telegram app to place the head of a lamb in a gift box next to a bouquet of flowers, and leave it at the home of Israel's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency. He informed his contact 'Anna' that he could not find an animal head, and 'Anna' told him she would buy a whole lamb," the indictment reads. Stern was eventually asked to purchase a large stuffed animal, buy a knife and a bouquet of flowers and place them in a gift box. The handler confirmed to Stern that she meant for him to put the knife in the package and he replied that he was afraid, lest he be imprisoned.
The indictment states that Stern was also asked to break a car window, or set fire to a car during a demonstration - and send a video to prove it. "Anna" promised him $500 for every window he broke, and $3,000 dollars for every car he damaged. "The defendant asked 'Anna' whether he should go to the demonstrations on the right or left side of the political map, and 'Anna' replied that it didn't matter. In addition, she suggested that he should break the glass of a store window during a demonstration in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem," according to the indictment.
According to Stern's acquaintance, the Vizhnitz Hasidic community prohibits the use of a smart (non-kosher) phone, and he was unaware Stern owned one. "It’s forbidden to own a smartphone, especially for yeshiva students. Despite all this, a smartphone came into his possession, he was overcome by evil and began exploring various sites until he reached Telegram, where someone apparently contacted him.”
According to the fellow Hasid: "He’s a normal man from a very respectable family, and I’m sure he had no idea who was asking him to do all these tasks or why. The rumor that he did it for money doesn't seem very likely to me either."
An official in the Vizhnitz movement, who knows the family well, said that: "His parents are still sure that this is a conspiracy. His mother is a well-known educator, his father is close to the Rebbe of Vizhnitz and is responsible for spreading his messages to the Hasidic world and writing pamphlets and holy books. He was very well known for his connection to the Rebbe. The young man himself is considered a scholar and a very simple man, not really someone who is looking to get into trouble. This story has been hitting the Hasidic community for several weeks."
'He didn't know who he was working for'
Senior security officials told Ynet that the ultra-Orthodox population has become a target for the Iranians. According to them, the ultra-Orthodox public is a target of the Iranians especially because of the draft law and because the Iranians estimate that they are less aware of online dangers, that their loyalty is to the state is only partial and that they would be willing to commit security offenses for the sake of excitement or money.
"We understand that they refused to commit serious crimes, but in espionage the danger is the potential for backlash and not necessarily the tasks that were actually carried out," according to a security source. The security establishment is concerned that there are additional operatives who have not been identified or who are not aware that they are in contact with foreign hostile elements.
In addition to the filing of the indictment, Tuesday's publication is intended to raise awareness of the issue of Iranian accessibility and Tehran's attempts to infiltrate inside Israel using these vulnerable populations. That is why the Shin Bet, in a relatively unusual step, has turned to the public and asked for vigilance. The message also has been spread on ultra-Orthodox platforms.