11 Years in Prison for Golan Resident Convicted of Passing IDF Information to Syrian Contact Linked to Iran

The Nazareth District Court today (Tuesday) sentenced Tahrir Safadi, a resident of Mas'ade, to 11 years in prison, two years' suspended sentence, and a fine of 10,000 shekels. He was convicted of espionage.

In the sentencing, the court determined that Safadi collected and passed along information about IDF forces, tank movements, and the locations of missile strikes to a contact in Syria who was operating on behalf of Iranian elements. In its ruling, the court found that Safadi had been in contact with Hossam Zidan, a Syrian resident and a reporter for the Iranian network "Al-Alam."

Prosecutors argued that this was a serious case that justified a harsher punishment, in part for deterrence. Judge Moran Margalit wrote in the sentencing that Safadi's actions harmed "the core of the protected values of state security. The fact that the information was passed during a multi-front war increases the severity of the acts and the potential damage that resulted from them."

"There is room to impose harsher punishment on residents and citizens of the state who assist the state's bitter enemies, so that the penalties imposed on them will be close to the maximum sentences set for these offenses."