Shin Bet: 2 Druse accused of spying for Syria

Fars Shaar and Said Abu Zid of Majdal Shams transferred secret letters, money from Syrian agent to Israeli prisons.

By YAAKOV KATZ
majdal shams 298.88 (photo credit: GPO)
majdal shams 298.88
(photo credit: GPO)
Two Druse men from the Golan Heights were charged on Tuesday with allegedly spying on Israel on behalf of the Syrian Intelligence, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed.
According to the Shin Bet, Fars Shaar, 40, and Said Abu Zid, both residents of the Druse village of Majdal Shams in the Golan, were in touch with a Syrian intelligence officer named Madhat Salah, who works with the Syrian government body responsible for the Golan Heights.
RELATED:2 Israeli-Arabs accused of aiding Hamas, plotting terror
Salah, 43, is originally from Majdal Shams and was previously imprisoned in Israel for security crimes. In 1998, he illegally crossed the border into Syria and settled there.
Salah and Shaar met during a joint stint in an Israeli prison. During his interrogation, Shaar, who was arrested in late August, confessed that Salah had asked him to kidnap an IDF soldier. Salah had allegedly promised to pay him in return.
According to the Shin Bet, Shaar served over the past three years as a conduit for money that Syria transferred to Israel for Druse prisoners and their families.
Abu Zid and Shaar’s sister served as the contacts between Shaar and Salah. His sister traveled to Jordan and met with Salah there. Abu Zid passed on a secret letter from Salah to Shaar.
In August, Fada Sha’ar and his father Majad, also residents of Majdal Shams, were charged with espionage, also for allegedly spying on behalf of Syria. The Shin Bet said that Salah had been involved in other cases of recruiting Israeli and Druse spies on behalf of Syria.
Also Tuesday, the Shin Bet revealed that it had arrested two Israeli-Arabs who, during a trip to Saudi Arabia, had allegedly met with Hamas operatives who lived in Lebanon and Syria.
During their meetings with the Hamas operatives, the two were allegedly asked to locate an arms cache that Hamas had hidden to be used in terror attacks against Israel. The two purportedly received a map and an explanation on the site, but despite their efforts, they failed to locate the cache.
The Hamas operatives also allegedly asked one of the Israeli-Arabs to recruit an additional Arab on behalf of Hamas who was supposed to travel abroad and undergo paramilitary training. According to the Shin Bet, the two received several thousand dollars from Hamas for their activities.