An Israeli-Arab man was sentenced to prison for passing information on the Israeli army chief of staff to Hezbollah.
Rawi Sultani, 23, was sentenced Tuesday by the Petah Tikvah District Court to five years and eight months in prison for giving Hezbollah information on Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.
Sultani, the son of a well-known attorney in Tira, was arrested in August and accused of passing information to Hezbollah on the daily routine of Ashkenazi and access to the Kfar Saba gym where they both worked out.
A Lebanese Hezbollah activist reportedly had contacted Sultani in August 2008 at a multinational Arab summer camp in Morocco, where the activist was lecturing the Israeli-Arab participants on Hezbollah’s “struggle.” Other camp participants questioned by police also admitted to having contact with the activist.
Sultani told the contact that he had information on Ashkenazi, and the two continued to stay in touch on Facebook and the telephone after the summer, according to reports. In December, Sultani met another Hezbollah member during a meeting set up in Poland and allegedly passed on the information there.
The prison sentence comes after a plea bargain worked out with prosecutors.
It is believed that Hezbollah planned to assassinate Ashkenazi to avenge the murder of its military leader Imad Mughniyeh, which it blames on Israel.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.