A 22-year-old Vizhnitz chassid studying to become a sofer, is now at the center of one of the most unusual espionage cases in Israel’s history — a tale that began with financial stress, a smartphone, and a mysterious message from a woman named “Anna.”

Facing mounting debts of nearly 70,000 shekels, which he attributed to “poor financial choices,” Stern purchased a smartphone in June 2024 — a rare and frowned-upon move in his kehilla. Hoping to make fast money trading cryptocurrency, he downloaded investment apps and joined several Telegram groups. It wasn’t long before he was scammed out of 5,000 shekels.

Then came “Anna.”

Claiming to be a Canadian activist running a campaign against traffic accidents in the UK, “Anna Elena” reached out to the chossid with an emotional appeal to “help save lives in Israel.” But according to Israeli security officials, “Anna” was no activist — she was an Iranian intelligence operative running a covert recruitment effort.

At first, the requests were strange, but not overtly violent. Anna sent the avreich an image of bloodied hands with an English caption: “History will record that children were murdered. Let’s stand on the right side of history.” The chossid, who later claimed he couldn’t fully understand the English text, was told it was “for the protection of children.”

He printed 150 copies of the image at a local store in Beit Shemesh, paying 150 shekels, and hid them under loose floor tiles in his apartment building. He then arranged for a second individual — also found online — to post them around Tel Aviv. For this effort, he received $50 in cryptocurrency.

The “Anna” persona began requesting increasingly disturbing acts: burning a forest, placing a severed sheep’s head in front of the Israeli ambassador’s home, and staging grotesque public threats — such as placing a knife-stabbed doll inside a cardboard box. Most shockingly, she allegedly asked him what he would do if asked to shoot someone, offering $75,000 and an escape flight from Israel. The avreich declined, saying, “That’s not for me.”

When Shin Bet agents arrested him at home, one investigator asked if he wanted to bring his tefillin. He replied they were at the Vizhnitz beis medrash. In a surreal moment, the agents drove him — just before dawn — to the shul to retrieve them. “He shook my hand and thanked me for treating him with understanding,” the investigator later recalled.

The avreich’s story has reportedly stunned investigators. A sheltered chassidishe young man — a father, husband, and aspiring sofer — lured by debt, naiveté, and digital deception into the orbit of a hostile regime.

He now faces serious security charges, with Israeli prosecutors expected to indict him for attempting to assist a foreign enemy in carrying out acts of incitement and subversion.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)