IDF Soldier Suspected of Spying for Hezbollah
A career Israel Defense Forces soldier is suspected of spying for the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, the authorities revealed on Wednesday.
The soldier, a resident of northern Israel, is suspected of having taken part in a gang that smuggled drugs from Lebanon and transferred sensitive military information on Israeli security to a Hezbollah-linked figure.
The military police arrested the suspect several weeks ago, following a joint investigation with the Galilee police. He was brought before a judge for another extension of his remand on Wednesday at the military court in Haifa.
Meanwhile, five additional suspects have been arrested in connection with the case. Their remands were extended Wednesday at the Acre Magistrate’s Court.
A senior military police official said after the arrests that “[the suspect] was aware of the fact that the information he was passing along would be used by Hezbollah to harm the security of the state.”
The attorneys representing the civilians arrested in the case said that their clients vehemently deny the charges against them. They said, furthermore, that the case has been blown out of proportion and that their clients were arrested only based on the testimony of the main suspect.
The identity of the suspect is still under a gag order.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
