A prominent Israeli Arab leader is suspected of aiding Israel’s enemies during last summer’s war with Hezbollah guerrillas, a lawyer said Wednesday after an Israeli court partially lifted a gag order.
Longtime Israeli Arab lawmaker Azmi Bishara left the country a month ago and resigned from parliament over the weekend, accusing authorities of persecuting him for his strident criticism of the Jewish state.
The gag order banned publication of the details of a police investigation into Bishara’s activities.
Paz Moser, a lawyer for newspapers that petitioned the court to declassify the information, said Bishara was under suspicion of crimes against the security of Israel, aiding the enemy during war, and receiving significant amounts of money from abroad. Some of the alleged offenses, said Moser, who has seen documents in the case, were carried out during Israel’s war against Hezbollah guerrillas last summer.
Said Nafaa, a lawmaker from Bishara’s party who saw the documents, confirmed Moser’s account.