Nahum Manbar
Photo: Shaul Golan
‘Iran may recruit Israeli treason convict if he is freed’
Security officials opposed to early release of businessman Nahum Manbar, who supplied Iran with sensitive information and equipment, tell parole board he ‘lacks any moral inhibitions that would prevent him from committing similar crimes’
It is feared that Iranian intelligence agencies may approach treason convict Nahum Manbar to acquire information and use him to advance their goals if his request for parole is granted, senior Israeli security official said Thursday.
Manbar was arrested in 1997 and later indicted and convicted for aiding an enemy of the State of Israel and for selling potentially harmful information to an enemy state.
Aiding the Enemy
Vered Luvitch
State Prosecutor opposes parole of Nahum Manbar, convicted of aiding enemy state; requests postponement of parole hearing to allow Mossad to submit detailed professional opinion on matter
The indictment claimed that during the 1980s, Manbar, who had business connections in Iran, used them to supply enemy agents with sensitive information and equipment.
Manbar was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He later appealed to the Supreme Court, which rejected his appeal, and is currently serving his sentence in the Nitzan Prison in Ramla.
The prison parole board has yet to decide on whether to deduct a third of his sentence.
Security officials opposed to Manbar’s release told the parole board that his “manipulative behavior” and the crime he was convicted of did not allow for his early release.
In their report the officials specified the “immense and irreversible damage” Manbar had caused.
“The equipment and knowledge he sold to Iran may some day be directed against Israel, and Iran’s capability as far as unconventional weapons are concerned has been significantly upgraded because of him,” the officials said in their report.
“This assessment, coupled with the impression that Manbar lacks any moral inhibitions that would prevent him from committing similar crimes, make him a comfortable target for recruitment by the enemy,” the officials said.
