A fugitive Arab Israeli lawmaker is suspected of "treason and espionage" for Hizbullah during last summer's war in Lebanon, police said Wednesday.
Azmi Bishara, who resigned last month and recently left the country, will be detained immediately if he returns to Israel and could face the death penalty if convicted, Israeli police said, according to the AP.
According to Ynetnews, he contacted a Hizbullah official during the war in Lebanon and handed him information on strategic locations in Israel in order to enable the Shiite movement to fire rockets at these destinations. Bishara allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for this information.
Bishara has denied all the allegations and stated he is a victim of political persecution. He has vowed to return to Israel.
He fled Israel a month ago without providing a reason, prompting speculation about the case.
Following a 2001 visit to Syria, where he spoke at a memorial ceremony for Syrian President Hafez Assad, Israeli lawmakers took the unprecedented step of lifting his parliamentary immunity. He was then charged with inciting to violence and supporting Hizbullah. Israel's Supreme Court later restored his immunity and dismissed the criminal charges.
Then Israel's Central Elections Committee tried to disqualify Bishara and his party from running in the 2003 parliamentary election on the grounds that the party sought to destroy the Jewish character of Israel. The Supreme Court overturned that ruling, too.
