Azzam Azzam ( ar, عزام عزام,

Levantine Arabic Levantine Arabic, also called Shami ( autonym: or ), is a group of mutually intelligible vernacular Arabic varieties spoken in the Levant, in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Turkey (historically in Adana, Mersin and Hatay o ...

: , he, עזאם עזאם; born 1962) is an

Israeli Druze Israeli Druze or Druze Israelis ( ar, الدروز الإسرائيليون; he, דְּרוּזִים יִשְׂרְאֵלִים) are an ethnoreligious minority among the Arab citizens of Israel. In 2019, there were 143,000 Druze people livin ...

who was convicted in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

spying Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and jailed for eight years. He maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal.

Arrest and trial

Azzam is from the town of Maghar, Israel. A mechanic by training, he worked for Tefron, an Israeli

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not t ...

company. As part of his work for Tefron, he made trips to

to visit local factories which were subcontractors of the company. During one such visit in November 1996, he was arrested in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

by Egyptian security services. His arrest was kept secret for several days. It was only after it was noted in Israel that his whereabouts were unknown, and the

Israeli Foreign Ministry The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַחוּץ, translit. ''Misrad HaHutz''; ar, وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية) is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's r ...

and an official Israeli mission to an economic conference in Cairo pressed the issue with the Egyptian government that his arrest was made known.The Arrest and Trial of Azzam Azzam
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22 May 1997, accessed 7 April 2007 Originally accused of

industrial espionage Industrial espionage, economic espionage, corporate spying, or corporate espionage is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security. While political espionage is conducted or orchestrated by governm ...

, he was later accused of using women's

underwear Undergarments, underclothing, or underwear are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer garments from being soiled o ...

soaked in

invisible ink Invisible ink, also known as security ink or sympathetic ink, is a substance used for writing, which is invisible either on application or soon thereafter, and can later be made visible by some means, such as heat or ultraviolet light. Invisible ...

to pass information to Israel's intelligence agency

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

.Egyptians Release Israeli 'Spy'
BBC News, 5 December 2004, accessed 7 April 2004 The trial opened on April 24, 1997, but was postponed until May 18, when it was discovered that the lawyer for his Egyptian co-defendant, Emad Abdel-Hamid Ismail, was not present. In the interim, the Egyptian Lawyers' Syndicate received a memo signed by twelve attorneys, stating that by defending Azzam, his lawyer, Farid Deeb, "polluted the distinguished history of the Lawyers' Syndicate". The letter demanded that disciplinary action be carried out against Deeb for "undertaking the defense of the Israeli spy"; in response the Syndicate decided to bring Deeb before its disciplinary committee on June 11. (''Al-Wafd'', May 14). At the May 18 trial, a representative of the Lawyers' Syndicate requested that the court disqualify Deeb from defending Azzam, claiming that Azzam had acted against the Egyptian national interests. The court summarily denied the request, insisting that every individual had a right to legal representation. As well, the prosecution added the indictment that Azzam was a

agent intending to harm the interests of Egypt, which allowed the prosecution to request the death penalty. In August 1997 Azzam was convicted of helping to send news about Egyptian industrial cities to Mossad, and sentenced to fifteen years jail at hard labor; his co-defendant Ismail was sentenced to twenty-five years. Both Azzam and the Israeli government denied the charges. Azzam was held in a small cell in harsh conditions which were slightly improved later on. While imprisoned, Azzam listened to a transistor radio. He secretly listened to Israeli radio broadcasts when the guards were not present.

Freed by Egypt

After '' Shabak'' (Israel's internal security agency) head

Avi Dichter Avi Dichter ( he, אָבִי דִּיכְטֶר, ; born 14 December 1952) is an Israeli politician. A former Minister of Internal Security and Shin Bet director, he resigned from the Knesset and left Kadima in August 2012 in order to become M ...

had negotiated with his

ian counterparts, Azzam was released on December 5, 2004. In return,

freed six jailed Egyptian students who were accused of planning terrorist attacks.Aluf Benn and Gideon Alo
Egypt frees Azzam Azzam after 8 years
Haaretz, 6 December 2005, accessed 7 April 2007 Azzam expressed gratitude to the government of Israel, and to

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

in particular, telling him "I love you very much," Azzam said. "I told my brothers that if I don't get out when Ariel Sharon is prime minister, I never will. I am lucky to have been born in Israel and I'm proud of it." An official Israeli government press release stated, :Prime Minister Sharon reiterated his deep gratitude to Egyptian President Mubarak and to Gen. Soliman and emphasized that this humanitarian gesture would make an additional contribution towards the deepening of bilateral relations.

Later life

Azzam returned to his home village of Maghar. In 2005, he lit the torch during the main ceremony of Israeli Independence Day. He found work as a branch manager for the Israeli company "Ace Buy-and-Build". Later, he found work as a maintenance man in the

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the 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 metropoli ...

oil refineries. He also participated in '' Survivor 10: V.I.P'', the sixth season of the Israeli reality show ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: Actual survivors * *Last survivors of historical events Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Found ...

''.http://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/75275

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azzam, Azzam 1962 births Living people Israeli Druze Arab citizens of Israel Egypt–Israel relations Survivor (Israeli TV series) contestants Textile workers

Arrest and trial

Freed by Egypt

Later life

See also

References