Israeli soldier sentenced to 4 years for helping ‘price tag’ activists

A corporal who was part of a military project involving haredi Orthodox recruits was jailed for sharing classified information with far-right Jewish extremists.

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(JTA) — An Israeli soldier was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for sharing classified information with far-right Jewish extremists.

Cpl. Elad Sela, a member of an Israel Defense Forces intelligence project involving haredi Orthodox recruits, was sentenced Tuesday for sharing military information with “price tag” vandals, the Times of Israel reported.

“Price tag” attacks, conducted by Jewish-Israelis, target non-Jews in Israel and the West Bank.

Sela, a resident of the Bat Ayin settlement in the West Bank, was arrested in March and confessed to the allegations against him.

“The soldier, time after time, and on a number of occasions, took advantage of his access to secret information and handed it over to those on whom it concerned,” military prosecutor Maj. Thea Shalit said, according to the Times of Israel. “He was assigned to a sensitive military network and trust was put in him to carry out his duties loyally to the army and the state. His actions were a serious betrayal.”

The Shin Bet security service launched the investigation that uncovered Sela’s crimes after attempting to arrest several suspected Jewish price tag assailants and finding they appeared to have received advance warning of the arrest.

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