For decades the Israeli army’s Bedouin soldiers were held up as proof it was possible for Muslim Arabs to be loyal to the Jewish state, but the treason case of senior Israeli officer threatens to expose the illusion of respectful coexistence between Jews and Israeli Arabs.
For decades the Israeli army’s Bedouin soldiers were held up as tangible proof that it was possible for Muslim Arabs to be loyal to the Jewish state, but the case of Lieutenant-Colonel Omar al-Hayb threatens to expose the illusion of respectful coexistence between Jews and Israeli Arabs, already severely strained by the two years of Palestinian intifada.
Col Hayb is accused of passing military secrets to Hizbullah, the Lebanese Shi’ite organisation sworn to Israel’s destruction. He is the most senior officer in Israeli history to be charged with spying and treason.
He is also one of Hizbullah’s victims, having lost an eye and been partially paralysed during the Israeli war in Lebanon.
But it is his motive that has rocked Israel. When his detention was made public this week — he was held secretly for more than a month — it reinforced the suspicion of many Israelis that their Arab fellow citizens cannot be trusted; that they are a fifth column whose real loyalty is with the Palestinians.
Col Hayb’s alleged motive for spying is not allegiance to a common Arab cause or anger at the suffering of the Palestinians: he is accused of selling military secrets for heroin and other drugs.
Colonel Einat Ron told a court hearing on Thursday that the army had recordings of dozens of telephone conversations between Col Hayb and a well-known Lebanese drug king, Kamil Nahara.
While they were talking Col Hayb gave information about tank and troop movements on Israel’s border with Lebanon, air force planes and the schedules of senior officers.The army believes Hizbullah may have used the information for specific attacks.
The prosecution alleges that Col Hayb’s backup network was a dozen members of his clan. They were busted in mid-September when two of them went to the border to collect 7kg of heroin and 9kg of hashish in return for information and dollars.
There was nothing in Col Hayb’s record to hint at divided loyalties. His lawyers point to a life devoted to the army, in which two of his brothers are also lieutenant-colonels.
He was the first Bedouin to volunteer for Israel’s paratroopers and served with distinction. He was badly wounded by a Hizbullah bomb in Lebanon in 1996, which cost him one eye, partially paralysed his left side and embedded shrapnel in his skull.
He was invalided out of the army as 98% disabled, but was back in the military a few years later and put in charge of recruiting Bedouin youth. In this home village, Beit Zarzir in Galilee, there is bewilderment and anger at the charges.
One of his brothers, Hassan al-Hayb, heads the local Bedouin council. He points out that 52 of the Hayb clan have died in action fighting for Israel.
”We have been a bridge between Bedouins and Jews. What will become of us now? The villagers are in panic. This is not an easy time for the Bedouin,” he said.
Hassan al-Hayb directs some of his anger at Israel’s Shin Bet security service, saying it has maltreated his brother.
”The state has betrayed us. They arrested an officer who spilt his blood for this country. My brother was seriously injured by Hizbullah. He was in hospital for a year and a half, he had 16 operations and was invalided out. He never fully recovered,” he said.
Col Hayb insisted on wearing his uniform to court. When he spotted his family sitting quietly at the front, he pointed to his rank insignia and said: ”I’m innocent. The full colonel rank is on the way. You can count on me.”
One of the young men in the family responded: ”We’re still proud of you.” But there are not many Israelis who would make such a claim. – Guardian Unlimited