A 21-year-old Hassidic resident of Beit Shemesh was indicted for security offenses directed by Iranian intelligence, the police and Shin Bet said on Tuesday.
Elimelech Stern's interrogation revealed 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.
In the correspondence between Stern and his Iranian handlers, he was told in broke English that he was Anna, living in London and was looking for brave people to carry out missions in Israel for pay ranging from 100 to 100,000 dollars. "I will test you with a simple mission of $100. If you do well and send me a video and photo of that work, and I can trust you, I will give you more missions with more reward," One message read.
In another message, he was told to by petrol and set fires. "I have spies in the police so don't worry about that," Stern was told in the message. "If they find out, they will tell me and I will tell you to leave the area."
Stern was charged in the Jerusalem District Court with contact with a foreign agent. His two cohorts were released after an interrogation and are awaiting the prosecution's decision whether to indict them.
"Approaching Israelis on social media, using false profiles, is a known method used by Iranian intelligence," the Shin Bet and police said in a statement. "Using this method to enlist Israelis to carry out seemingly benign actions is a readily available way to harm national security."
They said many fake profiles were detected in recent months, used by Iranian operatives and much information about who was behind them, had been obtained. "Iranian intelligence offers jobs as a means of creating preliminary contact with Israelis, using different languages including Hebrew and English," the security agencies said.
The Shin Bet also detected messages that had directed the recipients to the Telegram app with a link to the International Security Agency of Iran. Some Israelis who were thus contacted refused to respond and alerted the authorities.
"In these complex times, when there is broad use of the digital space for intimidation, messaging, or promoting terror under the guise of innocent actions, we recommend that the public be alert when approached by unknown entities and avoid providing personal information or opening unfamiliar links," a security official said.