Another Israeli-Arab leader accused of aiding terrorism

December 11, 2007

JERUSALEM – An Israeli-Arab lawmaker was arrested earlier this week on suspicion he spied for the Lebanese Hezbollah terror organization, according to sources familiar with the case.

The arrest follows a slew of other arrests and convictions the past few years of Israeli-Arab activists and politicians accused of aiding terror groups or enemy countries during a time of war. It also follows a WND exclusive report quoting a terror leader stating Hezbollah has “tens” of spies, mostly Israeli Arabs, operating within the Jewish state.

It was cleared for publication yesterday that Niad Malhem, a member of the Knesset’s Arab Balad party, was arrested Sunday on suspicion he committed serious security-related offences. Due to a gag order on the case, Israeli reporters were not briefed about the specifics of the accusations.

Sources familiar with the case told WND that, among other offenses, Malhem was accused of spying for Hezbollah during Israel’s war against the terror group in July and August of 2006. The war was sparked when Hezbollah raided the Israeli border and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. Hezbollah proceeded to fire over 3,000 rockets into the Jewish state, killing 43 Israeli civilians.

Malhem also traveled in October to Syria, considered an enemy country of Israel. The politician went along with another Balad Arab Knesset member, who was questioned about the duo’s visit last weekend.

The Israeli media reported on the generalities of Malhem’s arrest yesterday largely with stories focused on quoting Arab politicians here accusing Israel of anti-Arab racism.

Malhem’s Balad party, which refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, has a history of garnering police accusations of treason. The party’s former head, Azmi Bishara, fled Israel in April amid accusations he worked as a Hezbollah agent during the 2006 war with Lebanon, passing information to the terror group about the location of strategic sites in Israel in exchange for about $350,000.

According to the police report, Hezbollah intended to aim rockets into Israel based on the information Bishara provided.

Bishara also was accused of working for enemy countries, supporting terrorism and meeting with foreign enemy agents. He has denied the charges, claiming political persecution.

Over the past three years, at least four Balad activists and politicians have been convicted on charges they spied for Hezbollah, including imprisoned former Balad leaders Jassan and Marwan Athalmeh, who are brothers.

Arabs make up about twenty percent of Israel’s population. A poll in April by the University of Haifa showed half of Israeli Arabs believe Hezbollah’s kidnapping last July of two Israeli troops was justified. The same poll showed more than a quarter of Israel’s Arab citizens believe the Holocaust never happened, and 89 percent said they viewed Israel’s bombing of Lebanon last summer as a war crime, while only 44 percent said they saw Hezbollah’s rocket attacks against Israeli cities as a crime.

Multiple reports in the Israeli media during the 2006 war found Hezbollah flags flying from some Israeli-Arab villages in the north of the country, even when the areas were smashed by Hezbollah rockets.

The information that another Israeli-Arab lawmaker has been accused of aiding Hezbollah during the 2006 confrontations follows a WND exclusive interview filed during that summer’s war quoting a senior terror leader who said Hezbollah has an advanced spy network of Israeli Arabs operating inside the Jewish state.

Abu Oudai, who served as chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group’s rocket infrastructure in the West Bank, said in an August 2006 interview Hezbollah has tens of agents in Israel that provide it “with the information it needs.”

Oudai was killed during an Israeli anti-terror operation four weeks after the WND interview.

He told WND Hezbollah “agents” inside Israel consist mostly of Arab Israelis who provide the Lebanon-based terror group with strategic information such as rocket targets and locations of military installations.

“[Hezbollah] receives extremely high-quality information from their agents inside Palestine,” Abu Oudai said. “We are talking about detailed maps of neighborhoods, locations of military bases and regular information every day from many sources to help the heroes (Hezbollah) fire rockets more accurately into [northern Israel].”

He said after rocket attacks, Hezbollah agents send the terror group information on hits and misses.

The Al Aqsa Brigades, the declared “military wing” of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, is responsible for scores of shooting attacks, rocket launchings and, together with Islamic Jihad, every suicide bombing inside Israel the past three years.

Israel says senior Brigades leaders, particularly the group’s cell in Nablus in the northern West Bank, coordinate their attacks with Hezbollah and receive funding from Iran and Syria funneled through Hezbollah channels. Several Brigades leaders have spoken openly to WND about their group’s affiliation with Hezbollah

To interview Aaron Klein, contact Tim Bueler Public Relations by e-mail, or call (530) 401-3285.

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