Golan Heights Resident Indicted For Spying on Israel For Syria
Image by Getty Images
A resident of the Golan Heights was indicted for spying on Israel for Syria.
Suleiman Sidqi from the predominantly Druze town of Majdl Shams is accused of spying for the Syrian government, aiding an enemy entity, having contact with a foreign agent and supporting a terrorist organization, Army Radio on Friday reported based on the indictment against Sidqi.
Prosecutors submitted the document Friday to the Nazareth District Court.
The indictment says Sidqi collected sensitive material on military activity near the border between Israel and Syria and on senior Israel Defense Forces officers. He then gave the information to Syrian army officers, according to the indictment.
The indictment also said Sidqi admitted to collecting intelligence on Israel and to having contacts with Madhet Saleh, a Syrian with ties to the Syrian military intelligence. Sidqi was released from an Israeli jail in 2012 after serving a 27-year-sentence for terrorist activity, the indictment said.
Israel, which conquered the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, annexed the territory in 1981. The area is home to approximately 20,000 former Syrians who belong to the Druze sect and faith.
In Syria, the leadership of the Druze community has traditionally been a close ally of President Bashar Assad’s Alawite minority, which ruled the country for decades. Israel has offered citizenship to the Golan Heights Druze, but only several hundred became citizens.
Leaders of the Druze community in the Golan Heights have publicly rejected Israel’s claim to the Golan Heights, which they say belongs to Syria.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
