State prosecutors filed an indictment in the Tel Aviv Youth District Court against a 14-year-old from central Israel on Wednesday, accusing him of carrying out paid assignments for hostile actors while suspecting they were Iranian, in what authorities say is another case in a widening pattern of Iranian efforts to recruit Israelis online for intelligence-gathering and sabotage-related missions during the war.
According to the prosecution, the minor was charged with contact with a foreign agent, passing information to the enemy, and obstruction-related offenses, among other counts. Because the suspect is a minor, identifying details are barred from publication, and the indictment itself was not released.
Contacted via Telegram
Prosecutors said that in April 2025, the teen contacted a person in a Telegram group after seeing a message about work he was interested in, and the two agreed that he would perform tasks in exchange for payment in cryptocurrency transferred to a digital wallet. Over time, according to the announcement, he opened four digital wallets into which handlers transferred more than $1,170 in total.
Among the tasks attributed to him were spraying the graffiti slogan “We are committed to the covenant” in multiple areas of Tel Aviv and on vehicles; filming streets near Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv and neighborhoods in Ramat Gan; and recording a video of the Tel Aviv skyline while describing the location of the Kirya military headquarters. Prosecutors said he was also asked to rent an apartment near the Kirya, after which he sent a picture of an apartment for rent and spoke with several landlords in the area.
According to prosecutors, the teen was also instructed to spray pro-Iran graffiti on Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s home and to prepare video documentation of the minister. The slogan was to read: “We will avenge Ruhollah’s children” - an apparent reference to Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and the country’s first supreme leader. According to prosecutors, the teen responded that he could not carry out that task because he was in school and would be able to do it during vacation.
After he was questioned in the case, prosecutors allege, the minor tried to get a classmate to lie to investigators and falsely claim that he had been the one who transferred most of the money later found in the digital wallets.
A broader trend of Iranian operatives reaching Israelis online
The case fits a broader trend that security officials have been warning about for months: Iranian operatives reaching Israelis online, often through Telegram, job-related channels, or platforms tied to finance and cryptocurrency, initially offering money for what appear to be minor errands before escalating to more sensitive surveillance or operational tasks. In a public warning issued in September 2024, the Shin Bet said Iran had stepped up efforts to recruit Israelis for terror and espionage purposes, including through online approaches framed as paid work.
That warning described a familiar progression: at first, the requested acts can look relatively harmless, such as hiding cash or phones, distributing flyers, or painting graffiti, but they can quickly develop into requests involving arson, surveillance of public figures, or physical harm. The Shin Bet urged the public to report suspicious approaches immediately and said it viewed any contact with hostile actors, even where it appears “innocent,” as a grave security offense.
In January, the Shin Bet said 25 Israelis and foreign residents in Israel were indicted for spying for Iran in 2025, and that the number of Iranian plots using Israelis as spies had jumped 400% in 2025 compared with 2024, after a similar 400% increase the year before. The agency said 120 separate Iranian spying incidents were thwarted in 2025.
The newer cases have shown how varied the assignments can be. In one May 2025 case, 18-year-old Moshe Atias of Ashdod was indicted after allegedly surveilling former prime minister Naftali Bennett at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, where prosecutors said he documented security arrangements and tried to locate Bennett’s room after being recruited through Telegram messages offering “a better financial future.”
In another case disclosed in February 2025, a Petah Tikva resident was accused of carrying out dozens of graffiti missions for an Iranian contact and was allegedly asked to photograph the home of then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and military bases; authorities said he understood he was dealing with an Iranian handler.
A separate March 2025 case involved a Beersheba resident accused of initiating contact with Iranian operatives himself and offering to sell information, including while claiming access to the Negev Nuclear Research Center. He was charged, according to the Shin Bet, with contact with a foreign agent and passing information to the enemy.
By July, prosecutors had also filed indictments against three men in cases tied to Iranian handlers, including two suspects accused of photographing malls and Ichilov Hospital and agreeing in principle to travel to Iran for training toward an assassination mission against a senior Israeli public figure.
Authorities have also pointed specifically to the vulnerability of minors. In a separate May 2025 case, the Shin Bet and police said they arrested a 16-year-old from the Shfela on suspicion of performing multiple tasks for Iranian actors for money, including burying cash, photographing sites, printing posters, and burning items with anti-government slogans. In that announcement, a security official urged parents to warn teenagers about the dangers of online contact with foreign actors offering payment for seemingly simple jobs.
The latest indictment suggests that pattern has not only continued but further penetrated younger age groups. In case after case since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War on October 7, 2023, authorities have described recruitment efforts that begin with cash, anonymity, and social media contact, then move toward intelligence collection on sensitive sites, senior officials, and potential targets inside Israel.