An Arab money changer in eastern Jerusalem admitted to paying former Israeli Knesset Member Azmi Bishara $390,000 for information on behalf of Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War. As part of a plea bargain, Firas Asilah, a business owner in northeastern Jerusalem's Beit Hanina neighborhood, is being charged with money laundering. Despite his perpetual denial of receiving funds other than his Israeli government salary, Bishara fled from Israel following the war, in order not to be tried for treason.
Investigators state that, according to Bishara's contacts, Bishara recommended Hizbullah attack Haifa, and use long-range rocket attacks as a tactic against Israel. Bishara is also thought to have recommended other strategic locations for terrorist targets inside Israel.
Two Years Ago at IsraelNationalNews.com
--American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised weapons to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which a PA security force member said will be used against Israel.
--Education Minister Yuli Tamir has instructed the publishers of Israel’s schoolbooks to reintroduce the pre-1967 borders into future editions.
--Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a group of high school students this week that it was better to have left IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in the hands of Hizbullah terrorists than to have risked more soldiers in an extended war in Lebanon. The Prime Minister, addressing a group of 11th graders at the Amal High School in Nahariya, also said that he decided during the second Lebanon War this summer to agree to a ceasefire and avoid risking the lives of more soldiers, rather than reject the United Nations-brokered agreement and continue the battles.
Three Years Ago at IsraelNationalNews.Com
December 5, 2007 marks two years since a suicide bomber murdered five people and wounded dozens more in an attack on the Sharon Mall in Netanya. A security guard managed to stop the bomber as he attempted to enter the mall, preventing the attack from being far more deadly. The guard, 26-year-old Chaim Amram, was killed.