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| By israelinsider staff April 25, 2007 |
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Azmi Bishara is being investigated for allegedly helping Israel's' enemies during the Second Lebanon War, among other charges, it was revealed Wednesday after the gag order on his case was partially lifted.
The former Balad chairman MK, who resigned from the Knesset Sunday via the Israeli embassy in Cairo, is being investigated for aiding and passing intelligence to Hezbollah, contact with foreign agents and money laundering.
Police suspect Bishara received large amounts of money from foreign agents abroad, partly occurring during the Second Lebanon War, in return for services.
Initially police would not disclose that the investigation was occurring, and after today's disclosure, it is expected that the gag order will be completely lifted by the end of the week.
Some right-wing MKs are discussing ways in which to cancel Bishara's benefits for having been a member of Knesset, such as his entitlement to a pension of NIS 72,000 per year for ten years.
"How can we accept a situation in which this man dishonors the state and yet we continue to pay him, like freierim [suckers], and give him all his privileges?" asked one MK, reported the Jerusalem Post.
The Knesset could legally revoke Bishara's pension if he moves to Syria, one of the countries in which he is thought to own a residence.
Bishara has claimed that he resigned because the right-wing MKs were anxious to strip him of his immunity and Knesset related privileges.
Bishara, who has been abroad traveling in the Arab world for three weeks, has said he will return to Israel. According to reports Monday, Bishara left Egypt, where he gave his resignation via the Israeli embassy, and his current location remains unknown.
Bishara had left Israel amid the ensuing police investigation. The media began reporting suspicions of an investigation for accusations like treason and corruption earlier this month, prompting Bishara to leave the country.
According to Bishara, who originally intended to submit his resignation in Israel, he was forced to do so earlier in Cairo due to the matter being "spun into an anti-Arab Israeli campaign."
In an interview with Al-Jazeera Sunday, Bishara said that the police investigation had limited his options to martyrdom, exile or incarceration.
"I will not venture going back while these threats still stand," stated Bishara, according to a group of Egyptian intellectuals he met with Saturday.
Bishara said, according to the group, that the accusations of "providing enemy with information at a time of war, visiting an enemy country and bringing money illegally into the state of Israel," are "politically motivated and aim at ending his political activities."
The group also stated that Bishara had said he would not resign from the Knesset.
According to said MK Arye Eldad (NU/NRP), "I bless him for his decision and call on all his friends in the Arab factions to follow his lead and free the Israeli Knesset from the presence of those who aid the enemies of the state." He added that he was hopeful "Bishara will find political asylum in Syria or with his friends in Hezbollah." |
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