A young Israeli citizen was recently indicted for colluding with Iranian spies, the Israeli Internal Security Agency (ISA) and Israeli police jointly announced in a joint statement Tuesday.
Elimelech Stern, aged 21, is suspected of having accomplished “missions” entrusted by a social media user calling himself “Anna Elena” in exchange for cryptocurrency rewards.
According to authorities, the suspect was responsible for issuing public notices in Tel Aviv, hiding money in various locations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and delivering packages containing threatening messages, including a severed animal head. , at the doors of Israeli citizens, missions which he would have carried out.
In addition, he would also have been responsible for burning down a forest and committing a murder, missions which he would not have carried out, however.
Security authorities allege that Stern recruited and paid two other Israeli citizens to carry out certain missions. These two individuals were questioned and released from police custody pending a decision on their case, authorities said.
Israeli security services have not disclosed how they were able to link the case to Iranian intelligence services, saying only that widely distributed text messages contained a reference to the International Security Agency’s website. ‘Iran.
Israeli authorities point out that Iran has intensified its efforts to recruit Israeli citizens for missions, some of which, seemingly innocuous at first glance, are intended to “damage Israel’s national resilience and war efforts.” , sow demoralization and increase social divisions.
The joint statement from the Shin Bet and the Israeli police said that “in recent months, numerous falsified profiles used by Iranian security agents have been identified and monitored, and extensive information on the people behind these profiles has been collected. ”
“These contacts were made through social platforms and job sites offering paid assignments, with the activities taking place across all social media platforms, such as Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter, presenting false claims to create a first contact This approach has been carried out in various languages, including Hebrew and English.
“This method of using social media as a platform to fraudulently recruit Israelis for missions, even seemingly innocuous ones, poses a real and accessible threat to state security.”
It should be noted that the collection of comments from Iranian authorities is pending by CNN.