The Secret Life of a Yeshiva Student Revealed: The One Spy Story

A 22-year-old yeshiva student from Beit Shemesh, Elimelech Stern, was convicted on Sunday on charges of contact with a foreign agent and conspiracy to threaten. The conviction by the Jerusalem District Court concludes a two-month legal process that exposed an unlikely espionage case involving a young member of the Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to the indictment, Stern maintained contact with an Iranian agent who went by the name “Anna” on the Telegram app. The operative provided him with assignments and paid him in cryptocurrency for his actions. Stern also reportedly recruited two other Israeli citizens to assist him.

Among the acts, Stern was convicted for the printing and hanging of flyers featuring a bloody hand and a pro-Gaza message. He recruited another man to carry out the act and send him photo documentation. Stern also orchestrated the retrieval of a cell phone and facilitated cash payments in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The indictment noted that Stern refused a more serious assignment to send a knife and a bouquet of flowers to the home of a senior Israeli diplomat, out of fear of imprisonment.

During the investigation, Stern claimed he was unaware of the agent’s true identity, but the court ultimately found against his testimony. The conviction stated that evidence showed Stern had suspicions about “Anna” from the very beginning and that his suspicion "only grew alongside the severity of the acts, which increasingly took on a character of nationalism and security.”

In a statement following the conviction, Prosecution Attorney Yishai Zigman said the case sends a clear message.

“Stern received assignments, carried them out, recruited other people to these acts, and received payments for them. He did all this while knowing full well that behind ‘Anna’ stood a hostile entity set on destabilizing Israel's security,” he said. “This conviction sends a clear message: anyone who has any contact with foreign and hostile agents will bear the consequences.”