Druze man gets 14 years in prison for spying on behalf of Syria

A Golan Heights resident was sentenced to 14 years behind bars Tuesday for spying on IDF positions on behalf of Syria intelligence, Channel 10 reported.

The Nazareth district court handed down the prison time to Sidqi al-Maqt, 50, from the Druze town of Majdal Shams following his conviction for cooperating with a foreign agent.

Maqt was arrested in 2015 on suspicion of passing photographs and written reports of IDF positions to Syrian intelligence officials. He obtained the information from a IDF combat soldier. The soldier, who cannot be identified in media reports, was arrested in February 2015.

Maqt previously spent 27 years in jail on terrorism charges, starting in 1985. He was released in 2012.

The Israeli side of the Golan Heights has four Druze towns. Many of the residents feel they are Syrians, and maintain connections with their brethren over the border, who make up about five percent of Syria’s pre-war population of 23 million people.