WANA (Feb 05) – One of the individuals accused of spying for Iran was convicted on Monday by a court in Jerusalem and sentenced to three years in prison along with a financial fine.

 

Elimelech Stern, a 22-year-old student at the Yeshiva Institute from Beit Shemesh, who was accused of carrying out espionage missions for Iran, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 10,000 shekels.

 

The Times of Israel, quoting a judge from the Jerusalem District Court in Jerusalem, reported the judge as saying: “The offense is serious, but the sentence is relatively lenient, as his motivation was financial rather than ideological.”

 

The judge added that “the crime for which the defendant was convicted is serious and carries a high potential to harm Israel’s security and undermine its existence. Contact with a foreign agent is damaging because it raises concerns about the conscious or unconscious transfer of information to the enemy, especially when such contact evolves into a threat against individuals in Israel.”

 

According to the report, Stern was convicted of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and conspiracy to create a threat.

 

The allegations state that in 2024 he carried out several missions for an Iranian intelligence agent in exchange for money.