Avraham Sinai (; born December 15, 1962) is a former

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

member who spied for

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Originally named Ibrahim Yassin (), he fled from Lebanon to Israel in 1997 and later converted from Shia Islam to Judaism.

Life in Lebanon

Sinai was born Ibrahim Yassin in a Shi'ite village in eastern Lebanon in 1964. During the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

, his family was affiliated with the South Lebanese Army. Sinai became disillusioned with the actions of Palestinian militant groups and the

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

during the Lebanese Civil War. He claimed that Palestinian militants had tied his daughter between two cars, then drove the cars in opposite directions. During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Sinai sought and received help from the

Israel Defense Force The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

(IDF) while his wife was giving birth. His wife was flown via helicopter to

Rambam Hospital Rambam Health Care Campus () commonly called Rambam Hospital, is a teaching hospital in the Bat Galim neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. Rambam Health Care Campus is a part of Tertiary Referral Center for Northern Israel, It was founded in 1938. It ...

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, Israel. After this event, Sinai began providing information to Israel until he was caught by Hezbollah. According to Sinai, Hezbollah members kidnapped, questioned, and tortured him. In an interview with the ''

Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' (ToI) is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012 and has since become the largest English-language Jewish and Israeli news source by audience size. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist Dav ...

'', he claimed that future Hezbollah leader

Imad Mughniyeh Imad Fayez Mughniyeh (; 7 December 1962 – 12 February 2008), also known by his nom de guerre al-Hajj Radwan (), was a Lebanese militant leader who was the founding member of Lebanon's Islamic Jihad Organization and number two in Hezbollah's ...

, then a young member of the organization, was his "chief tormenter," even burning Sinai's newborn in front of him. After his release, Sinai began more actively spying for Israel.

Activities for Israel

For 10 years, Sinai passed information to the IDF via meetings along the Israel-Lebanon border. His primary handler in the IDF was

Yoav Mordechai Yoav "Poli" Mordechai (; born March 25, 1964) is a retired major general in the Israel Defense Forces. Early life and education Mordechai has a master's degree of government and politics and additional master's degree in National Security studi ...

, future

Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT; ) is a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense tasked with overseeing civilian policy in the West Bank, as well as facilitating logistical coordination between Israel and the ...

. He was considered an excellent agent for the information he provided to Israel.

Life in Israel

In 1997, Sinai was smuggled into Israel from Lebanon. His entire family, including his wife and seven children, settled in

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

. After attending synagogue services on

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

in 2000, he decided to become a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

. After years of study, he was converted by Rabbi

Shmuel Eliyahu Shmuel Eliyahu (; born 29 November 1956) is an Israeli Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi. He is the Chief Rabbi of Safed and a member of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel#Chief Rabbinate Council, Chief Rabbinate Council. Some of Eliyahu's statements ...

, chief rabbi of Safed. Sinai would eventually become a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

himself. Sinai is the author of ''A Martyr from Lebanon: Life in the Shadow of Danger'', which describes some of his experiences.

Personal

Four of Sinai's sons have joined the IDF. His son Amos served in the

Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade (, ''Hativat Golani'') is an Israeli military infantry brigade. It is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Is ...

and his son Haim was in the

Givati Brigade The 84th "Givati" Brigade () is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade formed in 1947. During the 1948 war, it was involved in capturing Palestinian villages in operations ''Hametz'', ''Barak'', and ''Pleshet''. Before Israel's 2005 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinai, Avraham 1962 births Living people Lebanese Jews Converts to Judaism from Shia Islam Lebanese former Shia Muslims Israeli former Shia Muslims Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli spies Lebanese emigrants to Israel Israeli people of Lebanese descent People from Safed Arab supporters of Israel Arab citizens of Israel Hezbollah members