Jewish American charged in Israel with spying for Iran for $1,400 in crypto
By Eugenia Yosef, Oren Liebermann, CNN
Jerusalem (CNN) — A US man living in Israel has been charged with spying for Iran in exchange for cryptocurrency funds, according to the State Attorney’s Office and an indictment filed on Friday, in what appears to be the first time an American faces prosecution amid a wave of espionage cases.
The suspect, Eli Lavon, 21, was an ultra-Orthodox student at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem. In November 2025, while visiting family in the United States, prosecutors say he answered a job advertisement on the Telegram messaging app.
One month later, a foreign agent acting on behalf of Iranian intelligence made contact with Lavon on the app as he returned to Israel and began assigning him tasks such as taking photos and videos, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say that Lavon recorded video of an abandoned building in a religious neighborhood in Jerusalem, as well as footage from inside a specific grocery store. In one assignment, the agent instructed him to hide a cigarette packet in a bathroom trash can in the Hadar Mall in Jerusalem with a note inside that said, “The job is complete,” the indictment alleges.
Lavon received hundreds of dollars in cryptocurrency payments for the images, prosecutors said. He used two different Telegram accounts and three different phones to communicate with the foreign agents, they said.
Israel has been facing an unprecedented wave of domestic espionage since 2023. At least 60 Israelis have been indicted on charges of spying for Iran, but this appears to be the first time an American has been detained in Israel on similar suspicions. Several of the sites that prosecutors say were filmed by these alleged recruits have been targeted in Iranian missile attacks on Israel over the past year.
Lavon was arrested on June 9 and now faces two counts of Contact with a Foreign Agent and 14 counts of Communicating Information to the Enemy that May be Useful to the Enemy.
“This indictment illustrates how foreign intelligence agencies attempt to exploit the digital sphere to identify, recruit, and operate individuals from within Israel,” said Ronit Shentzer Yaakobi of the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office in a statement, “and how important it is to remain vigilant and immediately sever contact when approached in this manner.”
Raz Bar Tzvi, a lawyer for Lavon told CNN that “not every person with whom a foreign actor makes contact via social media is an ‘atomic spy.’ The legal reality must be adapted to the technological reality. The matters described in the indictment do not align with reality.” Bar Tzvi declined to say what plea Lavon would enter.
Lavon ultimately blocked the foreign agent, but prosecutors say he made contact with a second agent working for Iranian intelligence. In February, Lavon hid a USB flash drive wrapped in a 50 shekel note (approx. $16.7) at a restaurant in Jerusalem, according to the indictment, and sent a selfie with a picture of his passport.
The second foreign agent asked Lavon to provide the names of fellow students at the seminary, the indictment said, but Lavon refused to involve his friends.
Lavon received about $518 in cryptocurrency for these assignments, according to the indictment, for a total of about $1,379.
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