US yeshiva student charged with spying for Iran in Jerusalem

A 21-year-old US citizen studying at a Haredi yeshiva in Jerusalem has been charged with spying for Iran after allegedly carrying out a series of intelligence-gathering tasks in exchange for cryptocurrency payments, Israeli media reported.

The Times of Israel reported that Eli Levon, a student at Mir yeshiva, was indicted on charges of contact with a foreign agent and providing information that could benefit an enemy. 

Prosecutors allege he communicated with two Telegram accounts believed to be linked to Iranian intelligence.

He was charged with receiving nearly $1,400 in cryptocurrency to photograph sites including Jerusalem's Central Bus Station, conceal a USB flash drive wrapped in a 50-shekel note at a restaurant, and leave a cigarette box containing a note reading “the work is done” at a shopping mall.

The indictment says Levon carried out the assignments despite having a "reasonable basis" to believe the accounts were operated by Iranian intelligence, the TOI report said.

Prosecutors said he refused one request to provide a list of fellow students at the yeshiva. He was arrested on 9 June.