The Jerusalem District Court on Sunday convicted Elimelech Stern, a 22-year-old avreich from Beit Shemesh, of contact with a foreign agent and conspiracy to make threats, after he maintained communication with an Iranian operative and carried out actions under her direction.

Stern’s attorney requested that he be reviewed for probation prior to sentencing, citing his young age.

According to the indictment, Stern knowingly communicated via Telegram with an Iranian agent using the profile name “Anna Elena” and was asked to perform various tasks in Israel.

Stern carried out assignments given to him and recruited two other Israelis to complete the missions. He was paid in cryptocurrency.

For one task, Stern printed and posted posters depicting a blood-soaked palm alongside the text in English: “It will be written in history that children were killed. Let us stand on the right side of history.” He recruited one Israeli to carry out the posting in Tel Aviv, who documented the act and sent the photos to Stern. Stern then forwarded them to “Anna” and received payment in return.

In another assignment, that same recruit collected a cell phone from the Atlit area according to “Anna’s” instructions. She later directed Stern to carry out additional actions, including sending packages containing a knife and a bouquet of flowers to the home of Israel’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Stern, however, responded that he feared going to prison.

In his defense, Stern claimed he did not suspect “Anna” was a foreign agent and argued that his rights were violated during the investigation, asking the court to invalidate his confessions.

However, the court found that Stern was aware he was in contact with a foreign agent, stating in its ruling, “From all the evidence presented, it is clear that the defendant harbored suspicions about the identity of ‘Anna’ from the very beginning of their contact. These suspicions grew stronger as the tasks she assigned became more severe in nature, taking on a distinctly security-nationalist character, and as she increasingly revealed her identity as a foreign agent intent on recruiting him and providing combat training for espionage.”

Attorney Yishai Zigman stated, “Throughout the proceedings, the prosecution argued that Elimelech Stern chose to act in the service of a foreign agent. He accepted assignments, carried them out, recruited others, and was paid for it—all while fully understanding that a hostile entity seeking to undermine state security was behind ‘Anna.'”

“The message from the court today is clear: anyone who collaborates with foreign agents and hostile elements will be held accountable. We will continue to act decisively to safeguard Israel’s security, even against covert threats that operate below the radar and endanger us all.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)