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Israel Charges Golan Druze, Israeli Arab with Spying, Hunting for Syrian Defector
(Ha'aretz) Jack Khoury - Three men were indicted this week in Israel for allegedly spying for Syria, including hatching an elaborate plan to kidnap Major Bassam Adel, a Syrian pilot who defected to Israel in 1989. Majd Sha'ar, 58, and his son, Fida, 27, are residents of the Druze town of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights, while Mahmoud Masarwah, 62, is a resident of the Israeli Arab town of Baka al-Gharbiyeh. They are charged with having had contact with Syrian intelligence officer Madhat Salah, a former resident of Majdal Shams. Masarwah reportedly heard that a man of Syrian origin lived in Baka al-Gharbiyeh and was allegedly the pilot who had defected to Israel. In 2007, Majd and Masarwah traveled to Amman to meet with Salah, who ordered the two to kidnap the man. The indictment lists a number of meetings and exchanges between the suspects and Salah in Amman, Cairo and Turkey and on the Internet. The suspects are also charged with filming military installations and the Hadera power plant. (Ha'aretz)