By Daniel Estrin
JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities on Thursday
indicted an Arab citizen of Israel on charges of spying for the Lebanese
militant group Hezbollah, accusing him of gathering intelligence on security
for Israel's president and on army installations.
The Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency said
in a statement that Milad Khatib, 26, from the northern village of Majd
al-Krum, was recruited in 2009 by a Lebanese Hezbollah operative in Denmark. He
was ordered to collect information on Israeli army bases and armories, as well
as details on security guards and motorcades of the Israeli president and other
public officials.
In August, Khatib allegedly shadowed a visit
by Peres to his home town, collecting information on his security detail.
Authorities say he intended to pass the details to his Hezbollah operator but
was arrested before he could do so. It was unclear what information, if any, he
supplied Hezbollah.
Peres' office did not respond to a message
seeking comment.
Hostility between Israel and the
Iranian-backed Hezbollah runs deep. The two sides fought a bloody, monthlong
war in mid-2006 that ended in a stalemate, starting after Hezbollah captured
two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
Israel believes Hezbollah possesses more than
40,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel.
Hezbollah has developed into a key political
force in Lebanon, holding the balance of power in the country's Cabinet.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said
Khatib first made connection with Hezbollah in 2007 in a series of meetings in
Denmark, Morocco and Lebanon, and he conducted a second series of meetings in
Turkey and Denmark in 2009 and 2010.
A lawyer for Khatib did not reply to a request
for comment.
In recent years, Israel has arrested several
other Arab citizens on suspicion of aiding the group.
Azmi Bishara, a former Arab lawmaker, fled
Israel in 2007 a few weeks before Israeli prosecutors accused him of supplying
intelligence to the Lebanese militants. A 24-year-old woman was jailed the same
year for making contact with Hezbollah agents she met while studying in Amman,
Jordan.
In 2008, a top Hezbollah commander was killed
in a bomb attack in Syria widely attributed to Israel. The following year,
Israel indicted a 23-year-old Arab citizen on suspicion of passing information
on Israel's army chief of staff - an alleged assassination plot in retaliation
for the killing of the Hezbollah commander.
Early last year, Amir Makhoul, a prominent
Arab-Israeli activist, was sentenced to nine years in prison after confessing
to spying for Hezbollah.
Israel has also blamed Hezbollah and its sponsor,
Iran, for a July bus bombing in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli tourists, as
well as earlier bombing attempts on Israelis in India, Thailand, Georgia and
Kenya.
Lebanon has also arrested a
string of suspects it accuses of spying for Israel.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Oct-04/190142-arab-israeli-charged-with-spying-for-hezbollah.ashx#axzz2816QG51z
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