Riyad Mazarib
Photo: Hagai Aharon
Man gets 6 years in jail for spying for Hizbullah
Resident of a northern village contacted Hizbullah operative in hopes of making smuggling deal, gave him information on Katyusha landing sites, IDF movement and plans to enter Lebanon
Transferring information to Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War and conspiring to smuggle dangerous drugs across the border landed 30-year-old Riyad Mazarib from Mazarib village in northern Israel with a six-year prison sentence.
The Nazareth District Court's verdict given on Thursday said that Mazarib made contact with a Lebanese citizen in hopes of smuggling drugs across the border. Mazarib also gave information on what was going on in Israel, including military movement and the IDF's plans.
In June 2006, Mazarib approached a tracker in the IDF and asked him to link him to a Lebanese dealer in order to smuggle drugs into Israel.
During the month before the war broke out, Mazarib made telephone contact with the Lebanese dealer. The two discussed the details of their upcoming deal. Mazarib also transferred a SIM card to the Lebanese via a third party, in order to continue contacting him.
A few weeks after initial contact was made between the two, the Second Lebanon War broke out. On the third day of the war, the Lebanese man contacted Mazarib, and from that day up until his arrest on July 21, Mazarib transferred information on military movements, Katyusha landing sites and the IDF's plans to enter Lebanon.
In another occasion the Lebanese asked Mazarib about a balloon floating above Lebanese skies, and Mazarib responded that the balloon was meant to photograph the area in order to aid in a shelling.
The verdict stated that Mazarib transferred this information even though he was aware that the Lebanese drug dealer was working for Hizbullah.
After obtaining intelligence information, the police and Shin Bet wiretapped Mazarib's phone to listen in on his conversations with the Lebanese drug dealer.
During his trial, Mazarib's lawyer claimed that the information he transferred was light information that anyone else in Israel could have given. The judge's response to this statement was that "a civilian is not free to determine on his own what information is of quality for the enemy and what information is meaningless."
