U.S. Student in Jerusalem Indicted for Alleged Iran Spy Ring

A 21-year-old U.S. citizen, named in the indictment as Eli Lavon, was charged Friday in Jerusalem with spying for Iran. The State Attorney’s Office filed counts of contact with a foreign agent and communicating information that could benefit an enemy.

Prosecutors say the case began in November 2025, when Lavon responded to a job posting on the Telegram messaging app while visiting relatives in the United States. About a month later, as he returned to Israel, an individual claiming to represent Iranian intelligence contacted him and directed surveillance tasks, the indictment states.

Those tasks allegedly included filming an abandoned building in a religious neighborhood of Jerusalem and recording footage inside a grocery store. Prosecutors say Lavon was once instructed to hide a cigarette pack containing a note reading “The job is complete” in a trash can at a Jerusalem shopping mall.

After initial contact ended, the indictment says Lavon began communicating with a second handler linked to Iran. He is accused of concealing a flash drive wrapped in banknotes at a restaurant and of sending a photo of his passport. The second handler reportedly asked for names of fellow seminary students; Lavon declined, according to the charges.

The indictment states communications were conducted through two Telegram accounts and three phones. Prosecutors say the defendant received cryptocurrency payments for material provided, with combined transfers from both handlers totaling about $1,379.

The State Attorney’s Office described the case as an example of foreign intelligence efforts to use online platforms to recruit individuals inside Israel and urged people to end contact immediately if approached in similar ways. Ronit Shentzer Yaakobi of the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office framed the indictment as part of those concerns.

Lavon’s lawyer, Raz Bar Tzvi, disputed that the behavior described amounts to espionage and argued that being contacted online by a foreign actor does not make someone a spy. He declined to say how his client would plead.

Israeli authorities have brought about 60 indictments in Iran-related espionage cases since 2023. Officials say several sites reportedly surveilled by recruits in those cases were later struck in Iranian missile attacks.