A fugitive Israeli Arab ex-lawmaker is suspected of helping
Hezbollah during last year’s Lebanon war, police said. In a new
statement on the case against Azmi Bishara, who fled Israel last month
to avoid arrest and then resigned from the Knesset, police said there was
evidence that Bishara had given Hezbollah information on locations to shell during
the 34-day conflict and advice on waging psychological warfare against Israel. In exchange, police allege, Bishara was paid
hundreds of thousands of dollars via Jerusalem money-changers. Bishara,
who faces charges of treason and espionage, has denied wrongdoing and
vowed to clear his name. If he returns to Israel and is convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Bishara, who headed the anti-Zionist Balad Party, infuriated many in Israel with his solidarity visits to Lebanon and Syria, and his agitation against the Jewish state.
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