Said Nafaa
Said NafaaKnesset Photo

Israeli prosecutors have indicted an Arab member of Knesset on charges of visiting an enemy country and meeting foreign agents.

The indictment charges that in 2007, MK Said Nafa'a (Balad) visited Syria and met with leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group.

The PFLP – which pioneered armed aircraft hijackings in the 1960's and 1970's – has a long history of carrying out terror attacks targeting Israelis.

In recent months it has been connected to a terror group that fired rockets at northern Israel and has been accused of abducting Syrian dissidents in Lebanon earlier this year on behalf of Damascus.

Israel's Northern Region State Attorney’s Office confirmed the charges against Nafa'a and 16 Druze Sheikhs for visits in Syria and Lebanon in 2007 and 2010.

If convicted, Nafa'a could face up to 20 years in prison. It was not clear whether Nafa'a is protected by diplomatic immunity - or whether the Knesset would remove his immunity if it did apply.

Nafa'a, a member of Israel's Druze minority, told Israel Radio Monday he would fight the charges, which he characterized as "incitement" and a "witch hunt." Nafa'a says he visited Syria for religious reasons.

Former Balad Party leader Azmi Bishara fled Israel in 2007 after he was accused of providing intelligence to Lebanon's Hizbullah terror group during a month-long war with Israel the year before.

Israeli law expressly forbids its citizens from travelling to 'enemy states.'

The indictment comes on the same day that MK Danny Danon (Likud) announced he would propose a law to allow the Knesset to expel any member who supports terrorists or acts to undermine the Jewish State.