US denies intervening for release of Israeli cyber official charged of sex crime in Nevada

ISTANBUL

The US on Monday rejected claims that it had intervened to secure the release of an Israeli cybersecurity official detained in the state of Nevada on charges of soliciting sex from a minor.

“The Department of State is aware that Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, an Israeli citizen, was arrested in Las Vegas and given a court date for charges related to soliciting sex electronically from a minor,” the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs wrote on US social media company X.

“He did not claim diplomatic immunity and was released by a state judge pending a court date. Any claims that the U.S. government intervened are false,” it said.

Alexandrovich, 38, is listed on the Israeli government website as head of the Technological Defense Division at the Israel National Cyber Directorate, an agency that oversees civilian cyber defense.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office disputed reports of an arrest, saying he was only “questioned” and “returned to Israel as scheduled.”

The US has come under fire in recent years over its close relationship with Israel, particularly amid Israel’s continuing genocidal attacks on the Gaza Strip, where it has killed over 62,000 people since October 2023.