Ma'ariv, April 13, 2007 (before Azmi's defection)
A swamp has been bubbling since Israeli-Arab weekly Al-Senara gloatingly published its exclusive headlines about Azmi Bishara. Our politicians, weary and heavy with the Passover meals, rushed into their roles: the right cried treason, the left warned of generalizations. The Arab MK's were divided: those who had been in Azmi's camp were justified to express their fears about the future. Those who had not been in Azmi's camp couldn't hide their relief. Some of them loathe Azmi to an extent that wouldn't shame the Hilltop Youth. As one of them put it, they were felt "restrained, but unadulterated joy".
Unfortunately, there are things concerning this issue that cannot be said. However, in order to make something of the Azmi affair, one needs to examine Israeli Arab politics, as it combines all the elements and tensions among the Israeli Arabs. Bishara represents the secular nationalists, pan-Arabism if you wish. Opposing him are those who embrace the Islamic movement. Bishara's nationalistic views are not necessarily socialist, such as are expressed by the Hadash party. Moreover, Bishara is Christian, and that is his Achilles heel. His opponents will not readily admit to it, but they don't consider him "one of them".
In fact, Azmi Bishara isn't one of anybody. He was never seen in the Knesset cafe sitting down to a cup of coffee with his political opponents, Zionists or Arabs. He had no friends in the house. How could he have befriended anyone? He was the absentee champion for years. Bishara was a separatist. Ahmad Tibi, Taleb a-Sana, Muhammad Barake are all part of the Knesset machinery. They are no friends of Zion. They are the bitter parliamentary opposition, revoltingly nationalistic to the best of their abilities. But they are part of the Israeli political scene. They propose legislation, they lobby, they engage in fierce disputes but also share friendly luncheons in the Knesset cafe. Self-righteous Bishara was also arrogant, so he stayed away from the Knesset. So the Knesset, including the left, stayed away from him.
However, in this story two opposing political camps are expressing false joy: the right is concentrating on Azmi's public figure, but if certain facts that cannot be named due to the gag order are right, and if Bishara is in fact not returning to Israel (which he didn't, return, that is), that's bad news. "Imagine", said a political personality this week, "imagine that he starts a political movement abroad, plays the conscience dissenter and calls on all Israeli Arabs to revolt. All Arab MK's will be considered traitors, collaborators with the Israeli regime. We have no need for that. It will not benefit the Jews if the Arab sector distances itself from Israeli political life."
The other camp, the Arab MK's, doesn't get it right either. They are relieved by Bishara's disappearing act, probably hoping that the Jewish sector is going to differentiate between Bishara and themselves. Wrong again. The Jewish public sees no difference between the Arab parties, and does not care about their internal bickering. "All Arabs are the same" in the eyes of many a Jew. Bishara will be just one more brick in the wall that is beginning to separate Arabs from Jews. Just one more reason to argue.
Ami ben-David and Felix Frish
Ma'ariv, May 3rd, 2007
Following months of ambiguity, rumors and speculations, the gag order was finally lifted: former MK dr. Azmi Bishara is suspected of assisting the enemy during the second Lebanon war. According to the Israeli police and the Shin Bet, transcriptions of the telephone conversations conducted by Bishara during the past few months prove that he crossed the red lines and acted as an agent on behalf of the Hezbollah.
Details of the investigations reveal that several months before the second Lebanon war broke out Bishara established telephonic contact with several Hezbollah agents. It appears that during the war, Hezbollah advised the Hezbollah what Israeli objectives they should target, and also offered them assessments on how rockets landing South of Haifa might affect the Israeli public resilience.
On one occasion, Bishara complained about the rockets landing in Arab villages: "I can understand attacking Haifa, but I can't understand rockets landing in Arab villages." And also: "Rockets falling beyond Haifa will precipitate the ceasefire". And indeed, when comparing the dates, several days after this conversation, rockets fell beyond Haifa and Hedera.
The investigators also suspect that Bishara passed on to Hezbollah military information, despite his knowledge that such information was classified (perhaps it is high time that the security of Israel be off-limits for Arab MK's. Let them concentrate on the well-being and welfare of their own electorate). He is also suspected of delivering details concerning the assessment of the situation that the was privy to as a member of the Israeli parliament participating in parliamentary debates during the war. According to the investigators, Bishara warned Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that Israel might considering targeting when the war was over.
The investigators also reveal that in exchange for information collected and delivered to his operators, Bishara received hundreds of thousands of USD in cash, from several Arab sources, including the Hezbollah. Three money changers with offices in Jordan and East Jerusalem seem to have acted as couriers, delivering each time 50 thousand USD to Bishara's residence in Beit-Hanina (Jerusalem).
The police also claims that the information available to Bishara was not of the highest security level and that he was never exposed to critical security data. This did not stop his Hezbollah operators from seeing in him a reliable source of information, due to his senior political status in Israel: "Bishara's operators considered him a highly reliable source, and they were thirsty for every tidbit of information he could provide."
The covert investigation began in the months prior to the war, with permission from the Attorney General and the State Prosecutor. The Supreme Court authorized the police to tap Bishara's phone lines. On March 22, he was summoned for the first time and was questioned for three hours. The following day he met again with the investigators, but he refused to even consider or even provide a response to the preliminary evidence presented before him. At the end of the meeting, he informed the police that he intended to travel abroad and has since refused to appear before the investigators.
Amichai Shai, head of the police's international crimes unit, was in charge of the investigation, said that it was impossible to stop Bishara from leaving the country before the Knesset Committee lifted his parliamentary immunity. The police feared that action might have disclosed important details of the investigation. In the wake of his flight, Bishara has been declared "wanted for investigation", and should he be found on Israeli soil he will be arrested and brought in for questioning. The police are currently considering an international arrest warrant.
And the rockets did land South of Haifa: Nazareth, Hadera, Afula, Nesher ...
