Bedouin businessman charged with conveying state secrets to Iran

An Israeli Bedouin businessman has been charged with serious security offenses, including contact with a foreign agent and providing information to Iranian intelligence thorough a Lebanese-Iraqi agent, according to the Shin Bet security service.

The suspect is Yaqoub Abu Al-Qia’an, of Hura and Meitar.

He has been detained for weeks by Israel, as has been previously reported.

Prosecutors in Beersheba file charges over the alleged national security crimes, as a court scales back the gag order on the case.

In addition to conveying information on Israel, Al-Qia’an planned to meet with the Iranian agents, though the meeting did not ultimately take place, the Shin Bet says.

According to Hebrew media reports, Al-Qia’an is a millionaire who has ties to the Islamist Ra’am party and former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon’s now-defunct Telem party.

Yaakub Abu Alqian is the Israeli man who was arrested for allegedly committing serious security offenses. He was charged with contact with a foreign agent and conveying information to the enemy.https://t.co/goqiPyMh5X pic.twitter.com/sBdfN2f8Dq

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 12, 2021