Elimelech Stern a Viznitzer Chusid from Beit Shemesh Finally Admits that he knowingly Spied for Iran

 Elimelech Stern, a Chasidic resident of Beit Shemesh, admitted during a Shin Bet investigation that he realized at a certain point that he was communicating with Iranian agents, Avishai Greenzeig disclosed on Monday evening on Kan Reshet Bet.

During his investigation by the Shin Bet, Stern said: "I realized that 'Ana' (undercover name of the Iranian agent) was probably something bigger, something with the arms of an octopus, and I began to worry about myself as well. I was afraid that if I contacted the police, I would be putting myself at risk." When further questioned, he admitted, "I suspected that they might be from enemy countries."

When asked why he continued to accept missions, even though he realized that it was a terrorist organization, he replied that he did it "possibly to earn a bit of money."

During one of his investigations, Stern broke down and said: "I know I was wrong. I failed big time. It's more that I continued with her, and didn't overcome my fear and go to the police station."

"I realized that there is an organization behind this thing and that's why I preferred Telegram, because it's encrypted. And no one can be, I realized that there is something problematic. Something here is not kosher, and I will not publish that I did it. Something between the drops is not kosher."

Contrary to what he said during the investigation, his lawyer claimed that he is a Vizhnitzer Hasid, who has not studied Hebrew or English and, therefore, relied on Google Translate, which made it difficult for him to understand that he was talking to a foreign agent.

Regarding the missions he received, he said: "I had two options, either she is outside of Israel and she plans to cause chaos in Israel, or she is from the anarchist left side of the spectrum and she plans to cause chaos.