A hero Israeli army officer received millions of dollars in drugs as payment from the Hezbollah terror group during the 18 months he ran a traitorous spy ring, officials said yesterday.
In one of the biggest espionage scandals in Israel’s history, Lt. Col. Omar al-Kheib, a Bedouin and Israeli army veteran of nearly 20 years who lost an eye and was partially paralyzed fighting the Lebanese guerrillas six years ago, was indicted by a military court yesterday.
Authorities said after Israel’s pullout from Lebanon two years ago, al-Kheib operated a network of fellow Bedouin Arabs who used their experience in the Israeli military to swap security secrets for heroin, hashish and money.
Prosecutors said the evidence includes a bugged phone conversation between al-Kheib, 40, and a Lebanese drug dealer who was acting as a Hezbollah middleman.
Al-Kheib allegedly was able to provide vital information, including classified maps, about Israel’s northern defenses.
“He was exposed to information of what is happening along the border – where the ambushes are laid, where the troops move, where the tanks sit in ambush, what is the schedule of visits by senior officers in the sector,” Lt. Col. Danny Reshef, who served with al-Kheib, told Army Radio.
Investigators said the ring appeared to be motivated by greed rather than ideology.
In other Mideast developments yesterday:
* A three-stage peace “roadmap” got a cool reception when touring U.S. envoy William Burns offered it to Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the plan, which envisions a fully independent Palestinian state by 2005, didn’t address security concerns.
“Israel reserves the right to self-defense and will not accept any constraints by this or any other road map,” he said.
Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Korei indicated the plan was too vague.
“We want a very clear road without obstacles or checkpoints,” said Korei.
* A Palestinian security court sentenced a 22-year-old university student to a firing squad for giving Israel information that led to a July air raid which killed a top Muslim militant and 15 others.
Akram al-Zatma is the third Palestinian to be sentenced to death for collaboration by the Gaza court in the past seven days.
With Post Wire Services