Second Israeli national arrested in US federal voter fraud sweep

Moriah Dahan, a 35-year-old Israeli citizen residing in the West Hills suburb of Los Angeles, was arrested Monday on suspicion of unlawfully voting in the November 2024 United States presidential election, despite not being an American citizen, the US Department of Justice announced.

Dahan is one of six additional foreign nationals against whom federal criminal proceedings have been initiated as part of a wide-ranging enforcement operation against illegal voting, and she is charged with an offense carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

According to the investigation filed in court, Dahan registered to vote on November 5, 2024, the day of the US presidential election, and cast a ballot in person at a polling station after falsely declaring that she was a US citizen.

A year later, on November 6, 2025, when she submitted an application for US citizenship, she stated on it that she had never claimed to be a US citizen and had never registered to vote in an election in the country. Federal prosecutors said these statements were false.

Second Israeli charged with voting illegally in US elections

Dahan holds a green card, which confers the status of a lawful permanent resident in the United States and grants her the right to live and work in the country, but does not grant her the right to participate in federal elections. According to the DOJ statement, she was arrested today, and an initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles was scheduled for Monday afternoon.

This is the second case in a short period in which an Israeli has been charged with crimes related to illegal voting in US elections.

About a week and a half ago, the DOJ announced the filing of an indictment against Yehuda Peer, a 30-year-old Israeli living in Merion Station, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the East Coast of the US.

Peer also holds a green card, and according to the indictment against him, voted in the same presidential election in November 2024 despite knowing he was not an American citizen. The case was published on Walla on October 25.

34 Defendants in California, Dozens More Across the United States

The proceedings against Dahan are part of a broad federal operation known as “Operation Protect the Vote.” The operation, announced by the DOJ on October 19, is being conducted at the initiative of the federal administration of President Donald Trump, in coordination among the four federal prosecutors’ offices in California and in cooperation with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

In the first public disclosure of the operation, authorities announced the filing of charges against 28 foreign permanent residents in California and the arrest of 11 of them.

The six new defendants brought the total number of individuals charged in California under the operation to 34. Alongside Dahan, the new announcement included citizens of the Philippines, Canada, and Iran, and two citizens of Mexico. All six reside in the Los Angeles area and were arrested Monday.

The operation in California aligned with a broader enforcement push by the DOJ ahead of the congressional midterm elections, which will take place Tuesday, November 3.

On October 26, the DOJ reported proceedings against 48 foreign nationals across five US states on suspicion of various election offenses, including unlawful voting, false registration, and falsely claiming US citizenship.

In the background of the operation, a legal dispute is also underway between the Trump administration and California state authorities. The DOJ claimed to have identified more than 20,000 individuals registered on the state's voter rolls who are suspected of not being US citizens.

On October 15, the administration filed a lawsuit against California after what it characterized as the state's refusal to cooperate in reviewing the voter lists and prevent the counting of ballots cast by ineligible voters. California authorities rejected the allegations of widespread voter fraud and disputed the reliability of the lists presented by the administration.

Bill Essayli, who heads the federal prosecution in the Central District of California, said after the announcement of the new charges that all 34 defendants in the operation were included on the list the federal administration sent to state officials.

According to him, authorities will continue to investigate and prosecute those who voted illegally. Erin Burke, head of Homeland Security Investigations for the Los Angeles area, said investigators will continue to act on the evidence collected.