Jerusalem —
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.
