Israeli Arab Lawmaker Suspected As Spy

Israeli Arab lawmaker Azmi Bishara makes a mobile phone call after meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa at the Arab League headquarters in downtown Cairo, Egypt in this April 22, 2007 file photo. Bishara is suspected of treason and espionage for aiding Hezbollah guerrillas during last summer's war in Lebanon, police disclosed Wednesday, May 2, 2007, saying the crimes could be punishable by death.(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) (Ben Curtis - AP)

PETAH TIKVA, Israel -- Ending months of secrecy, Israeli police disclosed explosive accusations of espionage and treason Wednesday against a former Arab Israeli lawmaker who has fled the country _ a case that has fueled suspicions between Israel's Jews and Arabs.

Police said that while Israel and Hezbollah battled each other last summer, Azmi Bishara, a member of Israel's parliament, advised the radical Shiite group. They said he passed on sensitive information and suggested ways of causing more harm to Israel.

Bishara left the country a month ago after being grilled twice by investigators, and later resigned his parliament seat. Police said he would be arrested immediately if he returns to Israel.

In an interview from Amman, Jordan, Bishara told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he was a victim of political persecution. "It is very clear they have a plot," he said. "It's a classic manifestation of how the security establishment works in Israel when they target someone for political reasons."

Bishara has pledged to come back to face his accusers, but did not say when he would return to Israel.

Many Arabs see Bishara's case as a worrying sign of political persecution. For Israeli Jews, the charges have brought to the surface long-standing concerns that the country's Arabs are disloyal to the state.

Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel's population, do not identify with the state's Jewish character and have longed lagged behind Jews in government funding, employment and standard of living.

A 50-year-old Christian from Nazareth, the outspoken Bishara has antagonized many Jewish Israelis in the past by cultivating ties with some of Israel's staunchest enemies, including the leaders of Syria and Hezbollah.

A gag order in effect for months was finally lifted Wednesday, revealing the first concrete details of the investigation.

Investigators carried out months of phone taps and surveillance of Bishara, police said, and raided his homes in Jerusalem and Haifa last week, along with his office in parliament.

Amichai Shai, head of the police's international crimes unit, said Bishara offered Hezbollah officials suggestions on "how to deepen the harm to Israel" during last summer's fighting, when the guerrilla group fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel, and gave them advice on how Israel might respond to long-range rocket attacks.

Bishara passed on "certain military information, the publication of which was forbidden by the censor," Shai said. He declined to elaborate, but during the war, the military censor banned any publication of where rockets landed _ raising the possibility that Bishara helped Hezbollah improve its aim.