An Israeli from Ramat Gan was indicted on Monday for communicating with an Iranian agent and performing tasks for him in exchange for payment via cryptocurrency, according to a statement from the state prosecutor’s office.
The indictment stated that Eden Dabas had multiple profiles on the Telegram messaging app through which an Iranian intelligence agent contacted him. The agent assigned Dabas tasks, instructed him to buy a disguise, and told him to keep their communication a secret, telling him at some point to erase the messages between them.
The indictment echoes similar charges brought against several other Israelis in recent months.
Communication between Dabas and the agent began on June 5 and ended on August 4 as Dabas was arrested the next day. Within those two months, Dabas was paid $12,000 worth of cryptocurrency.
Dabas knew from their first contact that the agent was Iranian and understood that the tasks he carried out would be on behalf of Israel’s enemy, the indictment charged.
The first task Dabas was assigned was to make posters with a bloody handprint and the caption “Be on the right side of history” and hang them in public.
Over the next two months, Dabas created more posters, including one that encouraged an armed revolution in Israel, sent the agent photos of the posters in public, and then took them down, the indictment said.
Another task Dabas carried out, according to the indictment, was opening a Telegram group titled “The People’s Army” which was used to help the agent contact more Israeli citizens to carry out tasks for him.
Dabas was then told to buy a stuffed toy, cut off its head, and deliver the head along with a knife and a threatening message to a person the agent identified as “an official in an important security program.”
The indictment said that Dabas did as he was told, but instead of taking it to the intended target, he laid the package outside his father’s front door and sent a photograph to the agent to make him think he had completed the task.
It added that Dabas was told to set a forest fire, smash car windows, graffiti a call for an armed revolution, set cars on fire, and hide cash in three locations but Dabas refused.
The indictment also accused Dabas of being in possession of meth, MDMA, and cocaine, but the drugs did not seem to be related to his contact with the Iranian agent.
Dabas was charged in the Lod District Court with communication with a foreign agent and possession of illegal drugs. Along with the indictment, the prosecution also submitted a request for Dabas to be kept in custody until the end of proceedings against him.
Three Israelis were arrested in July on suspicion of carrying out similar tasks for an Iranian agent. One of the people, Elimelech Stern from Beit Shemesh, was indicted while the other two were released after being interrogated.
At the time the Shin Bet and Israel Police said in a joint statement that contacting Israeli citizens through social networks by using fake accounts “is a well-known modus operandi of the Iranian intelligence agencies.”
“In recent months, many fictitious profiles used by the Iranian security forces have been located and monitored, and a great deal of information has been collected about the agents behind their operation,” the two law enforcement agencies added.
They further said that along with using social media platforms such as Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook and X, the Iranian agents also sought to gain cooperation from Israeli citizens through websites offering money for casual jobs.
A “significant portion” of citizens who received suspicious messages and requests did not respond to them and some even warned the authorities.
A senior source added that it was recommended that the general public be aware of such schemes and refrain from passing on their personal details if asked by someone they were unfamiliar with, and from opening links from sources they don’t know.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.