Israeli Arab spy sentenced to prison

• Tweet

JERUSALEM, April 6 (UPI) -- An Israeli Arab was sentenced to prison Tuesday for giving Hezbollah information about the head of the Israel Defense Forces, prosecutors said.

The Petah District Court ordered Rawi Sultani, 23, to spend five years and eight months in prison for passing details about the daily routine of IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi to the Lebanese organization, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported.

Sultani, who attended the same gym as Ashkenazi, was recruited by a Hezbollah agent at a summer camp in Morocco in 2008, the prosecution charged.

Prosecutors said Sultani conspired to give an enemy useful information and knowingly maintained contact with a foreign agent.

Intelligence officials suspected Hezbollah wanted to assassinate Ashkenazi as revenge for the killing in Damascus of Hezbollah's second in command, Imad Muginyeh.