Leftist Indicted for Informing to PA on Palestinians Selling Land to Jews

An Israeli leftist was indicted Sunday for informing to the Palestinian Authority against Palestinians selling land to Jews, punishable by death under PA law.

Ezra Nawi was charged with violation of the 1995 Oslo Accords, which prohibits Israeli citizens from working for the Palestinian security services. Nawi, the first Jew to be tried under this law, faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Nawi was arrested in January 2016 at Ben Gurion Airport as he attempted to leave the country, following an expose of his activities on the Israeli investigative series Uvda. In a report broadcast just a few days before his arrest, he admitted in a recording that he had assisted the PA in capturing violators of the land sale law. Nawi said he turned over pictures and phone numbers of Palestinian land owners interested in selling to Jews.

His lawyers protested the indictment: “This is a shameful day for the State Prosecutor’s office,” said Attorneys Eitan Peleg and Leah Tsemel representing Nawi. “It is sad for anyone who believes in the law enforcement system. After two-and-a-half years of harassment, the prosecution filed an indictment that is entirely the result of illegal political pressure.

The right-wing group Ad Kan, which helped to expose Nawi, criticized state attorneys for not filing the indictment on more serious offenses, such as contact with a foreign agent and accessory to murder.