In brief
- A 21-year-old American man has been indicted in Israel on espionage charges—the first such case involving a U.S. citizen amid a broader wave of Iran-linked spying prosecutions.
- Prosecutors say Lavon was recruited via Telegram, filmed sensitive sites and left hidden items with coded messages for Iranian handlers, and was paid in cryptocurrency.
- Lavon faces charges of contact with a foreign agent and communicating information useful to an enemy; his lawyer disputes that the conduct amounts to espionage.
An American citizen studying at an ultra-Orthodox seminary in Jerusalem has been indicted on espionage charges, in what authorities say is the first prosecution of a U.S. national amid a widening crackdown on Israelis recruited to spy for Iran.
Eli Lavon, 21, was formally charged Friday with two counts of contact with a foreign agent and 14 counts of communicating information that could benefit an enemy, per an indictment filed by the State Attorney's Office, as reported by CNN.
Prosecutors allege the case began in November 2025, when Lavon, while visiting relatives in the United States, responded to a job posting on the Telegram messaging app. A month later, as he was returning to Israel, someone claiming to represent Iranian intelligence made contact and began directing him to carry out surveillance tasks, the indictment says.
Those tasks allegedly included filming an abandoned building in a religious Jerusalem neighborhood and recording footage inside a grocery store. In one instance, prosecutors say, Lavon was told to conceal a cigarette pack containing a note reading "The job is complete" in a trash can at a Jerusalem shopping mall.
He was paid in cryptocurrency for the material he provided, communicating through two Telegram accounts and three phones, according to the charges.
After cutting off that contact, prosecutors say Lavon began communicating with a second Iran-linked handler, hiding a flash drive wrapped in currency at a restaurant and sending a photo of his passport. That handler pressed him for names of fellow seminary students, which Lavon declined to provide, the indictment states. Prosecutors say his combined payments from both handlers totaled roughly $1,379.
“This indictment illustrates how foreign intelligence agencies attempt to exploit the digital sphere to identify, recruit, and operate individuals from within Israel,” said Ronit Shentzer Yaakobi of the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office, “and how important it is to remain vigilant and immediately sever contact when approached in this manner.”
Lavon's attorney, Raz Bar Tzvi, told CNN that being contacted online by a foreign actor doesn't make someone a spy, and argued the facts described in the indictment don't support the charges. He declined to say how his client would plead.
Israel has indicted roughly 60 people on Iran-related espionage charges since 2023; officials say several sites allegedly surveilled by such recruits were later struck in Iranian missile attacks.