The members of a delegation of 330 Druze clergymen who traveled to Syria will be dealt with and charged according to Israeli law, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter announced Saturday. The delegation includes Knesset Member Said Naffaa (Balad).
"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.
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.