Ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student convicted over ties to Iran

Ultra-Orthodox man from Beit Shemesh convicted for working as Iranian agent after denying he knew his handler was an Iranian intelligence officer.

By World Israel News Staff

An ultra-Orthodox Israeli man was convicted Sunday on espionage charges after he was arrested last year on suspicion of spying on behalf of Iran.

The Jerusalem District Court found 22-year-old Elimelech Stern guilty of contact with a foreign agent and conspiring to make threats in connection with his work on behalf of an Iranian handler who operated under the alias “Anna Elena.”

Last year, Stern was arrested during a raid on his apartment in the Dalet 1 neighborhood of Ramat Beit Shemesh.

Stern, a scion of the Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty, was accused by investigators of carrying out various tasks assigned to him by his handler, an Iranian agent who used the moniker “Anna Elena” on the Telegram instant messaging app.

The Iranian agent gave Stern instructions through Telegram, arranged payment for his services and transferred cryptocurrency to his account.

Among other things, Stern was ordered to post flyers against the Gaza war, including one featuring a blood-soaked hand and the English text: “It will go down in history that children were killed. Let’s stand on the right side of history.”

On other occasions, Stern was instructed to hide wads of cash at selected locations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Stern was also tasked with sending threatening messages, including to Ronen Shaul, the Israeli envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency. In that instance, however, Stern refused to comply with his handler’s instructions, fearing that he could be caught and arrested.

The Iranian handler ordered Stern to include knives, animal heads, or severed dolls along with some of the threatening messages.

“Anna” also offered to pay Stern to commit acts of vandalism during a protest, promising $500 for every documented case of car windows being smashed and $3,000 for each car set on fire.

Stern asked whether he should target right-wing or left-wing protests for the vandalism campaign, to which his Iranian handler responded, “It doesn’t matter.”

To assist him in his missions, Stern recruited two other Israeli citizens at the urging of his handler.

During the trial, Stern admitted to working on behalf of “Anna Elena” but denied knowing that his handler was a foreign agent.