Nasim Nisr (also spelled Nissim Nasser; ; ; born 1968), is a Lebanese and former Israeli citizen who was convicted of spying for

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 ...

Biography

Nisr was born in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in 1968 to a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

father and 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 ...

ish mother who converted to Islam after her marriage. In 1982, Nisr moved to

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 ...

and obtained Israeli

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

under the

Law of Return The Law of Return (, ''ḥok ha-shvūt'') is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to Aliyah, relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli nationality law, Isra ...

. He lived in

Holon Holon (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. In , it had a population of , making it the List of cities in Israel, tenth most populous city in Isra ...

, and was married with two daughters. His immediate family remained behind in Lebanon. Nisr established ties with a Hezbollah agent through his brother in Lebanon. He was asked to supply maps of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

marking electricity and gas installations, to extract intelligence from a top Israeli military officer, and to monitor the activities of Israeli armor near

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

. He was arrested in 2002, tried and convicted of spying for Hezbollah, and sentenced to six years in prison in a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

. During his imprisonment, he gave up his Israeli citizenship, hoping to be included in a prisoner exchange deal. His release in a prisoner exchange was a Hezbollah demand during the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

, which Israel refused. However, on 1 June 2008, he was deported to Lebanon as part of a prisoner exchange for the remains of two Israeli soldiers killed during the war.

References

2006 Lebanon War Hezbollah members Lebanese people imprisoned abroad Lebanese emigrants to Israel Lebanese Jews Prisoners and detainees of Israel Israeli people of Lebanese descent Living people People convicted of spying 1968 births Anti-Zionist Jews {{Lebanon-paramilitary-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References