Arab Israeli suspected of aiding his nation’s enemy

Israeli police said Wednesday that they were investigating whether an outspoken Arab member of parliament acted to help the nation’s enemies during last summer’s war with Hezbollah.

Azmi Bishara is suspected of aiding the enemy, passing information to the enemy, contacting foreign agents and money laundering, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Police provided some details of the investigation after an Israeli court ruled that a gag order be partially lifted.

Bishara, 50, an advocate for Palestinians and Israel’s Arab minority, resigned his legislative post Sunday while in Cairo. He left the country last month for what he described as a family vacation and lecture tour and was away as rough outlines of the investigation began to emerge.

He and Arab allies in parliament have dismissed the Israeli investigation as retaliation for his frequent criticism of how Israel treats its Arab citizens, who account for about one-fifth of the nation’s population of 7.2 million.

Rosenfeld said Bishara had been questioned twice by investigators and failed to return for further questioning as he had promised. Bishara was to have returned by Sunday, he said.

Bishara, who has drawn fire in Israel for meeting with Syrian leaders and Hezbollah officials, was stripped of his parliamentary immunity and indicted in 2001 after giving speeches that praised the Lebanese guerrilla group.

Israel’s Supreme Court last year restored his immunity and dismissed the charges.

Bishara, a Christian from the northern city of Nazareth, is the leader of the National Democratic Assembly, which has three seats in parliament.