Border Guard officer charged with espionage
Operations officer indicted for allegedly handing over sensitive intelligence regarding military patrols along Egyptian border, disclosing classified technology, drug smuggling
Border Guard police officer Badi Bissan was indicted Tuesday on charges of espionage and drug trafficking across the Israeli-Egyptian border. Bissan was charged along with his alleged accomplice, Salem Abu-Rawis, a Bedouin resident of the Negev.
Bissan, 33, a resident of the Jatt village in northern Israel, met Abu Rawis, also 33, during his service in southern Israel.
According to the indictment, Bissan handed over classified information regarding military patrols in the region as well as details of Israel's intelligence gathering technology and the advanced methods used to track cross-border smugglers.
Abu Rawis (green shirt) and Bissan (far left) in court on Tuesday (Photo: Herzel Yosef)
According to one of the charges Bissan excused his personal driver from service and used a military-issued vehicle to smuggle drugs across the border.
In a second incident, Bissan, using his position as operations officer, made little of reports of suspicious movement along the border, telling the soldiers who had alerted him that they were "imagining things" and by doing so allowed a drug shipment to enter Israel.
Bissan also kept Abu Rawis updated on patrol schedules and the movement of border security cameras.
Bissan and Abu Rawis are charged with smuggling copious amounts of various drugs, primarily hashish. Prosecutor Moshe Saada, has asked that the defendants remain in custody until legal proceedings are concluded at the Be'er Sheva District Court.
"This is a serious and atypical case, which merits a life-term sentencing," said Saada. This is the first such indictment ever brought against a police officer of Bissan's rank.
Saada also cited the substantial evidence accumulated against the two, including wiretaps, a confession from Abu Rawis and surveillance footage of Bissan transporting known smugglers and apparent contraband in a police vehicle.
Yossi Lynn, the defense attorney for Abu Rawis, denied his client's involvement in drug smuggling. "Throughout the entire investigation, which went on for over six months, he was never once caught with drugs or other illegal goods," said Lynn.
