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Prominent Arab Israeli Charged With Spying

Makhoul denies working with Hezbollah

by
Marc Tracy
May 27, 2010

An Arab Israeli community leader arrested earlier this month, initially under a gag order, was indicted today on charges of spying for Hezbollah. Ameer Makhoul is accused of meeting with an operative of the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed terrorist group in Denmark in 2008; passing along information on Mossad, Shin Bet, and other security facilities; and trying to recruit other agents. He is the head of Ittijah, or The Union of Arab Community-Based Associations; his brother is a former Knesset member.

Makhoul denied the charges, and his lawyers—to which he was only recently granted access—assert that he was interrogated unlawfully. (The police deny this.) Some see the prosecution as political.

A second Arab Israeli was indicted separately for the lesser charge of meeting a Hezbollah agent.

This seems like one more thing that could make it a hot summer on the northern border.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.