Israeli Arab charged in Hezbollah plot to kill IDF chief

Gabi Ashkenazi

Rawi Fuad Sultani, 23, admitted he met a Hezbollah activist in a summer camp in Morocco one year ago and told him he had information on Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, who worked out at the same gym as he did in the town of Kfar Saba.

For full article, visit http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/08/31/83491.html

According to the charge sheet, Sultani first made contact with Hezbollah agents at a multi-national Arab summer camp in Morocco organized by the Israeli Arab political party Balad. Lebanese Hezbollah agent Salman Harev, who also took part in the camp, spent much of the summer lecturing the Israeli Arab participants on his group’s struggle.

For full article, visit http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1111344.html

Rawi Sultani

Sultani’s father, Attorney Fuad Sultani, said that his son was exploited and that he is innocent. “My son was maliciously exploited by these agents. The accusations are apparently politically-based,” said the senior Sultani, who is representing his son.

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The National Democratic Party or Balad, which represents Israel’s Arab minority and is named in charges against Sultani as having funded his trip to Morocco, reacted angrily to news of the arrest.

“This experience shows us how the police and security services exaggerate this type of incident and make mountains out of molehills. We maintain that Sultani has the right to be presumed innocent,” the party said in a statement.

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Correspondents say the allegations raise further questions about Lt Gen Ashkenazi’s security, two weeks after it was disclosed that his credit card details and a gun in his office had been stolen by a soldier.

For full article, visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8230726.stm

Arab MKs slam Yishai for seeking power to cancel citizenship

“Yishai wants to cancel court decisions and to take the authority over political revenge into his own hands. Revoking citizenship is forbidden by international law – citizenship is not a favor, but comes as a result of the fact that we are products of this land,” Zahalka said.

MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List-Ta’al) connected Yishai’s initiative to a recent series of legislative initiatives that Arab lawmakers say all targeted Israeli Arabs, including the Nakba Bill and the bill to require a loyalty oath as a condition for receiving a national identity card.

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