Jerusalem —
An American man living in Israel has been charged with spying for Iran in exchange for cryptocurrency funds, according to an indictment filed Friday with the state attorney’s office, marking the first time an American has been indicted in a spate of espionage cases.
The suspect, Eli Lavon, 21, was an ultra-Orthodox student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Jerusalem. In November 2025, while visiting family in the United States, prosecutors said he answered a job ad on the messaging app Telegram.
A month later, a foreign agent acting on behalf of Iranian intelligence contacted Mr. Labon via app after he returned to Israel and began assigning him tasks, including taking photos and videos, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say Labon recorded videos of abandoned buildings in Jerusalem’s religious district and footage inside certain grocery stores. According to the indictment, on one mission, the agents hid a pack of cigarettes in a trash can in a restroom at Jerusalem’s Hadar Mall and instructed them to place a note inside that read, “Job Done.”
Prosecutors say Labon received hundreds of dollars in cryptocurrency payments for the images. He said he used two different Telegram accounts and three different phones to communicate with foreign agents.
Israel has faced an unprecedented wave of domestic espionage since 2023. At least 60 Israelis have been charged with spying for Iran, but this is believed to be the first time an American has been detained in Israel on such charges. Some of the scenes that prosecutors say were filmed by these suspected recruits have been the targets of Iranian missile attacks on Israel over the past year.
Mr. Labon was arrested on June 9 and is currently charged with two counts of contacting foreign agents and 14 counts of transmitting information likely to be useful to an enemy.
“This indictment shows how foreign intelligence services seek to exploit the digital realm to identify, recruit and manipulate individuals in Israel,” Ronit Schenzer Yaakobi of the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “It also shows how important it is to remain vigilant and immediately cut off contact when approached in this way.”
Rabon’s lawyer, Raz Bar Tzvi, told CNN: “Not everyone a foreign actor comes into contact with through social media is an atomic spy.” Legal realities must adapt to technical realities. The matters stated in the indictment do not correspond to reality. ” Burl Tzvi declined to say what kind of plea Lavon would file.
Mr. Rabon ultimately thwarted the foreign agent, but prosecutors say he came into contact with a second agent working for Iranian intelligence. In February, Labon hid a USB flash drive wrapped in 50 shekel bills (approximately $16.70) in a Jerusalem restaurant and sent a selfie with a passport photo, according to the indictment.
The second foreign agent asked Lavon to provide the names of seminary students, but Lavon refused to involve his friends, according to the indictment.
According to the indictment, Labon received approximately $518 in cryptocurrency for these assignments, for a total of approximately $1,379.
