TEL AVIV Ñ A Tel Aviv court has released the first details about an Israeli Jew charged with spying for
Hizbullah.
In what officials termed a precedent, a 35-year-old Lebanese native was
charged with working for Hizbullah for more than a year. They said the native,
identified as Nissim, immigrated to Israel from Lebanon in
1992, Middle East Newsline reported.
The Tel Aviv District Court banned the publication of Nissim's last name
for fear that his family would be harmed. Nissim is believed to have
relatives in Lebanon as well.
On Thursday, the court released the first details of the charges against
the suspect. Authorities accused Nissim of providing Hizbullah with security
and intelligence information, including a video of energy facilities in the
Tel Aviv area.
Last month, a Palestinian group tried to blow up a huge oil storage
facility north of Tel Aviv. The attempt was unsuccessful.
Nissim was said to have been ordered by Hizbullah to provide the
Beirut-based organization with maps of electricity and natural gas
installations in the center of Israel. A document released by the court said
Nissim confessed to the charges.
It was the first time Hizbullah is said to have succeeded in recruiting
an Israeli Jew for operations. Officials said Hizbullah has recruited
Israeli Arabs, many of them drug dealers or users who are supplied narcotics
by the organization.
On Thursday, Israeli troops arrested what officials termed a senior
Hizbullah operative. The officials said the Hizbullah agent was arrested in
the West Bank city of Hebron and provided military guidance to the
Palestinian Authority and its Islamic allies.
