On Tuesday the Israel Prisons Service Parole Board denied a request by former businessman and convicted traitor Nachum Manbar that his 16-year sentence be reduced by a third.

In 1997 Nachum Manbar was found guilty of treason for aiding an enemy making war on Israel and providing information intended to damage Israel's security. Manbar sold Iran $18 million worth of mustard gas and nerve gas, as well as technology for the construction of a factory to build missile warheads which could carry them.

Prosecutor Dvorah Chen called it the most serious crime in Israeli history, and asked for a sentence of life in prison. The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Manbar to 16 years, however, and Manbar has been allowed out on prison leave 56 times since being jailed in 1997.