Ashkenazi's 'spy' gets prison time
Member of IDF chief's gym who acted as Hezbollah informant signs plea bargain for five-year sentence
A man found guilty of following the IDF chief of staff and informing Hezbollah has signed a plea bargain with the state sentencing him to five years and eight months prison time.
Rawi Sultani, 23, from Tirah, who works out at the same gym as Gabi Ashkenazi in Kfar Saba, passed on information to his Hezbollah operators via email and meetings abroad.
On Tuesday the new indictment was filed with the Petah Tikva District Court, which held a sentencing hearing immediately afterwards. During the hearing Sultani expressed regret for his actions.
The judges' verdict following the hearing says that the charges against Sultani are "of the most severe and dangerous kind".
It also rejects a plea by the defendant's father and attorney, Fouad Sultani, who argued that the information handed to Hezbollah was not especially harmful and that "we live in an internet world".
The verdict states that the information passed on was comprised of a senior authority figure's personal details and was thus "harmful to the chief of staff's personal wellbeing and security".
However the court accepted the plea bargain because Sultani is young and has no previous record, and because he expressed regret for his actions. "Both sides accept that this is an innocent man whose views have not been solidified. He fell into the arms of an ingenious enemy like a ripe fruit, and even attempted to escape his operators," the verdict says.
But Sultani's father was dissatisfied. "My son is paying a hefty price for a matter that received disproportional attention from the security establishment and the media," he said.
Youth camp in Morocco
According to the indictment issued by the Central District Prosecution, initial contact between Sultani and a Hezbollah operative was made when Sultani attended a youth camp in Morocco in August 2008. While there, he befriended Salman Harb, a Lebanese youth who reportedly revealed to him that he was active in Hezbollah. During their meeting, Sultani told the operative that he works out at the same gym as the IDF chief of staff. At this stage, he was not asked to take any action, only to stay in contact with the Hezbollah youth.
Later, the Hezbollah operative wrote to Sultani to invite him to Poland. Sultani left for Poland in December, where he met with the operative's brother, Sami Harb. Sultani was told that Salman could not get an entry visa to Poland. Sami asked Sultani at the beginning of their Poland meeting to provide him with
information on IDF bases and soldiers. Towards the end of the meeting, he started asking him questions about Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi.
He asked about the location of the gym, including its various workout machines and their characteristics, ways of accessing the gym, entrance protocol for members and guests, gym security arrangements, the location of security guards and how they were armed.
