IDF soldier indicted for aiding enemy
Daliat al-Carmel man accused of passing on classified information to Siddqui Al Maqt, who shared it with Syrian intelligence and was arrested last week following lengthy investigation.
An IDF combat soldier was arrested Thursday on suspicion of indirectly passing classified information to the enemy.
Hilal Halbi, from the Druze town of Daliat al-Carmel, allegedly shared the information with another Israeli citizen, Siddqui Al Maqt, who then shared it with Syrian intelligence. Al Maqt was arrested last week following a lengthy investigation by police and the Shin Bet.
According to the indictment, Halbi passed the classified information to Al Maqt on two different occasions. The information includes details on IDF military activity along the Israel-Syria border, and could potentially harm national security. Halbi was indicted at the Central Military District Court.
Halbi provided Al-Maqt with the information while he was serving on the security force tasked with securing the area.
Earlier this week, Siddqui Al Maqt was indicted at the Nazareth District Courthouse on charges of espionage, after he allegedly passed photocopied materials, reports and observations on IDF activity in the Golan Heights to Syrian intelligence sources.
According to Thursday's indictment, Al Maqt passed on information he had received from Halbi to Syrian government officials and intelligence.
A week ago, details regarding the first part of the espionage affair were cleared for publication. It was then disclosed that an indictment was filed against Al Maqt, who was arrested in the past on charges of espionage.
Al Maqt now stands accused of espionage once again, as well as abetting an enemy during wartime, supporting a terror organization, having contact with a foreign agent and other security offenses.
He was arrested along with two other Druze men from the Golan, Atef Darwish and Fidaa al-Shaer.
Al Maqt was released from Israeli prison two and a half years after serving a 27-year sentence. He was first imprisoned in 1985 on charges of terrorist activity and was released in August 2012.
Police said that he returned to nationalist activity immediately after his release. "He began to spread incitement and promote nationalistic activities in the Golan Heights and the Palestinian Authority," said the chief of the police investigation team, superintendent Eli Fuchs.
"He supports Hezbollah, Iran and Bashar Assad. He believes the Golan Heights belongs to Syria and that it must be returned to Syria. According to this thinking, a Golan resident holding an Israeli ID card is a traitor."
Investigators allege that Al Maqt documented IDF activity on the northern border, collected information on it, and gave it to intelligence and government sources in Syria.
Security sources said the passing of information was carried out by uploading materials online, broadcasting them on Syrian television, and by direct contact between Al Maqt and Syrian agents.
The sources said Al Maqt admitted to the charges during questioning and also confessed to contacting Medhat Saleh, a Syrian government member known for ties to Syrian intelligence.
"He cooperated and confessed to most of the charges against him," said police. "He speaks to us from an ideological standpoint; he considers himself a Syrian citizen serving his country and believes wholeheartedly that he was doing good."
They added that the large-scale investigation began months before the arrest that included police detectives, police intelligences, the Shin Bet and the IDF.
Hassan Shaalan and Lior El-Chai contributed to this report.
