21-year-old US citizen charged with espionage for Iran in Israel, receiving cryptocurrency as payment

Odaily Planet Daily News: Eli Lavon, a US citizen studying at a Haredi yeshiva in Jerusalem, has been indicted in Israel on espionage-related charges. According to the indictment, Eli Lavon faces two counts of contacting foreign agents and 14 counts of transmitting information that could benefit the enemy.

Prosecutors allege that Lavon was recruited via Telegram, photographed sensitive locations, and placed hidden items containing coded messages for Iran-linked contacts. He received approximately $1,379 in cryptocurrency as payment from two contacts. Lavon's attorney, Raz Bar Tzvi, told CNN that being contacted by a foreign actor online does not make someone a spy, and argued that the facts presented in the indictment are insufficient to support the charges. (Decrypt)