A young religious Jew holding both British and Israeli citizenship was released Wednesday night from a military prison in Beirut, where he had been held for 12 days on suspicion of spying for Israel.
He was arrested in the Lebanese capital on November 15 while photographing the Lebanese Ministry of Defense building. He had entered Beirut using his British passport. After he was discovered taking the photos, he was taken into custody at the Defense Ministry, where his phone was examined and found to contain numerous calls to Israel.
Once authorities suspected he was not merely a tourist, he was transferred to a military prison in Beirut. There, he was intermittently held in solitary confinement under harsh conditions, alongside Syrian and Lebanese criminals, two Hezbollah members and others from enemy states.
During questioning, the young man claimed that photography is a regular hobby of his during his travels and that he had not realized the building was a government facility.
Following intervention by Lebanese acquaintances of Israeli attorney Mordechai Tzivin, the dual Israeli-British citizen was moved five days ago to more comfortable conditions within the prison, where he received better treatment. He was even permitted a brief phone call to his parents. One of the guards volunteered to bring him food cooked by his wife, though the detainee was unable to eat it due to kosher dietary restrictions. He was forced to remove his kippah and tzitzit to avoid being identified as Jewish.
At the same time, a judge at a Beirut military court ordered his unconditional release and authorized him to travel freely. Due to procedural delays — including Monday’s Lebanese Independence Day, during which the country shut down — his release was postponed until Wednesday night.
Tzivin, who handles cases of Israeli and Arab prisoners abroad, including in enemy states, said that “the release — especially this quickly in an enemy country dominated by Hezbollah — is extraordinary, particularly given the suspicion that a Jew was spying for Israel. Credit is due to the judge who was convinced that the young man visited as an innocent tourist and that his photography was done without any intent to spy, even though he is Jewish and his phone showed many calls to Israel. The judge should be commended for focusing on the facts rather than the man’s background.”
Efforts to secure the man’s release involved the same Lebanese contacts, a Haredi Israeli billionaire known for supporting Torah scholars who provided financial backing, and well-known London-based Haredi activist Aharon Nazri, who has handled other complex cases in the past.
“Regardless of the case in Beirut, in my experience, you can even do business with the devil. It all comes down to chemistry, emotional connection and interests,” according to Tzivin.