Druze MK to be charged over Syria visit, says Dichter
Internal security minister announces police will deal with delegation of Druze religious figures who visited Damascus despite ban
"Those who travel to an enemy state should know that they will be dealt with according to Israeli law, and so will MK Naffaa and the members of the delegation," Dichter said in a statement.
The delegation left for Syria Thursday morning despite the Interior Ministry's decision to deny their applications to do so. The group was invited to several formal receptions in Syria and participated in religious ceremonies.
MK Naffaa filed a request with Interior Affairs Minister Meir Sheetrit asking him to allow Druze followers to travel to the tomb of Habil in Zabadani, located some 30 miles west of Damascus.
Israel has allowed Druze to perform the pilgrimage to the Habil shrine since 1988. Habil is the Arab name for Abel, Cain's brother. The two sons of Adam and Eve are mentioned, though not by these names, in the Quran.
Naffaa's office told Ynet the purpose of the visit was to cultivate the relations between the Druze in Syria and those in Israel. Sheetrit denied the request. Naffaa said in response that Sheetrit had said that officials on all levels refuse to allow the clergymen to visit Syria and Lebanon.
MK Effie Eitam (National Union-National Religious Party) addressed the report and said Naffaa was "following in the footsteps of Bishara, who started out by visiting capital cities of nations and ended with him acting as an agent of the enemy."
Eitam said he expected the security establishment to determine what Naffaa's dealings in Damascus were. Eitam said the attorney general was obligated to warn Naffaa in advance that traveling to an enemy country illegally would lead to criminal charges being filed against him upon his return.
