An Israeli man was indicted Monday in Jerusalem District Court on charges of knowingly maintaining contact with an Iranian intelligence operative and passing information that could benefit the enemy, prosecutors said.

Ali Jaber, 23, allegedly began the arrangement in January after responding to a job posting in a Telegram group, where a user identified as “Joan” offered him paid assignments with payment through PayPal. After Jaber submitted a photograph of his identity card and opened an account, Joan deposited roughly $80.

The first task was relatively innocuous: photograph a traffic circle near Eilat’s central bus station. Jaber complied, sent the image via Telegram, and received payment.

But the assignments escalated quickly. At the time, Jaber was doing renovation work at Ovda Air Base in southern Israel. Upon learning this, Joan asked him to photograph the base. According to the indictment, Jaber photographed a room inside the facility and sent the image, then declined an additional request to photograph the base grounds, the location of an Iron Dome battery, and the barracks.

The indictment states that by this point, Jaber suspected Joan was working for Iran and chose to continue the contact anyway in order to collect money.

In the weeks that followed, Jaber allegedly filmed a roughly seven-minute video of the road leading away from Ovda Base and sent it to the operative, receiving about $150. He later filmed a second road video, about 10 minutes long, while traveling from Eilat to Jerusalem, and received additional payment.

Jaber drew a line at one assignment: the operative sent map coordinates for a house in Eilat’s Shahamon neighborhood and instructed him to document the property, photograph entrances and exits, park at a distance, approach on foot, and discard an outer layer of clothing afterward. Jaber refused even after being offered roughly 1,000 shekels and receiving a $100 advance.

After seeing that the payment had originated from Iran, Jaber told the operative he wanted no further part in the mission and returned the money. His PayPal account was subsequently frozen.

The operative proposed switching to a digital wallet and continued pressing Jaber for additional assignments in the days that followed, but according to the indictment, Jaber stopped cooperating.

Jaber faces one count of contact with a foreign agent and three counts of transmitting information useful to the enemy. Prosecutors said they may seek a prison sentence if he is convicted and asked the court to order his cellphone forfeited, citing its use in the alleged offenses.

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