A 16-year-old boy was indicted on Monday for holding contact with an Iranian agent over several months.

The initial contact was made via the Telegram application, just after the war began in October 2023.The agent then gave instructions to the teen to carry out acts, in exchange for digital pay transferred to the TrustWallet application.

The instructions included printing inciting political flyers, taking photos and videos in public spaces, and, at times, inciting the crowds in real-time.

In one case, in February, the teen wrote on a piece of paper in Hebrew, “Where do you think the next target will be?” and was instructed to share the live location of the specific buildings that would theoretically be “targets” of an Iranian attack.

The next day, he went around different governmental and authority buildings in Rehovot, including the Magistrate’s Court, the Tax Authority building, and the police station. He then took photos of the sites with the handwritten note and the message. For this, he received NIS 1,600.

View of the Tax Authorities offices in Rehovot on September 15, 2024. (credit: NATI SHOHAT/FLASH90)
View of the Tax Authorities offices in Rehovot on September 15, 2024. (credit: NATI SHOHAT/FLASH90)
The teen also passed along location sites for ATMs. The indictment stated that he was an “active participant” in the acts and even volunteered some of his own ideas. These included graffitiing public property with inciting political messages, dropping sums of money at different sites in Rehovot and Rishon Lezion, and surveillance of shops that sell drones, as well as attempts to loop his friends into the deal.

Teen offered to ignite a fire during wildfires

In one instance, during one of the wildfires that took place near Jerusalem at the start of the month, he offered to ignite a fire near Rehovot. This never happened because the two disagreed over the fee.

The indictment adds that he downloaded an application to his phone that was secure enough to allow surveillance by the Iranian agent from afar. The agent was also added to several WhatsApp groups.