Ex-Balad party MK convicted of security crimes
Druze former parliamentarian Said Nafa traveled to Syria in 2007, met with member of terror group
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Former Balad MK Said Nafa was found guilty Sunday morning of meeting with a foreign agent, traveling to an enemy country and aiding other Israelis and permanent residents to do the same.
The Nazareth District Court cleared Nafa of a third charge: meeting with a senior Hamas operative in Syria.
Nafa, a Beit Jann resident who served in the Knesset from 2007 to 2013, has advocated that Israel’s Druze population abandon its traditional loyalty to Israel, adopt a Palestinian and pan-Arab identity, and stop performing mandatory IDF service alongside Israeli Jews.
The former lawmaker organized a trip of 282 Druze religious figures to Syria in September 2007. Nafa was told by the Interior Ministry that he would not be given permission for the trip but proceeded with arrangements anyway, with the help of then-MK Azmi Bishara, now a fugitive accused of passing sensitive information to Syria.
Nafa and his entourage reached Syria after coordinating with the Syrian embassy in Jordan, and he met with a member of the People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command during his week-long stay in Syria. The PFLP-GC is designated a terrorist organization by the EU, US, Israel and Canada.
Nafa was also accused of meeting with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal, but was cleared of that charge by judges Esther Helman, Avraham Avraham, and Binyanim Arbel.
Nafa was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in 2010 by a Knesset committee.
There was no word about sentencing.
