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Israeli soldier indicted in martial court for spying

Xinhua, April 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Israeli soldier has been indicted in martial court for allegedly aiding the enemy, by supplying an Israeli Druze supporting the Syrian regime with information regarding the movements of the Israeli army.

Following the lifting of a gag order by the military censorship, it was revealed that the soldier arrested is also a Druze, living in the community of Daliat al-Carmel in northern Israel.

His name had not been released, and he has been questioned about his actions by the Shin Bet Security Agency as well as the military police.

The soldier is charged with assisting the enemy as part of a bigger espionage case, which received the name "Facebook spy," after Israeli Druze Sudki Makat was indicted last week for posting the movements of the Israeli military along its northern border with Syria on his Facebook page.

Makat, a resident of the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, is a known advocate of the Assad regime in Syria.

He was indicted with assisting the enemy during wartime after posting information and photos on Facebook regarding the Israeli military's movements.

He had also allegedly reported this information to Syrian news channels, charging the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is coordinating its activity along with the Syrian rebel groups, fighting against Assad's regime in the four-year civil war.

Israel's State Attorney pressed charges of espionage and aiding the enemy against Makat on Friday.

The i24 Tel Aviv-based international news channel reported that during his investigation Maqat admitted he passed the information to a Syrian official.

Maqat had served 27 years in Israeli jail in the past for security offenses, including planning an attack on IDF forces, and was released from prison in 2012.

More than 100,000 Druze live in Israel, a religious minority of Arab descent who practice Islam. They are a distinct ethnic community who are Israeli citizens and serve in the army, mainly living in northern Israel.

There is a substantial number of Druze, however, who view themselves as citizens of Syria, living on lands Israel annexed in the northern Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast War.

Many have family members in Syria, where 700,000 Druze live. Endit