Ameer Makhoul (Arabic: أمير مخول) is a Palestinian Christian[1] Arab citizen of Israel[2] and the director of the Haifa-based Ittijah, the Union of Arab Community-Based Associations[3], a network for Palestinian NGOs founded in 1995 in Israel. The organization promotes Palestinian Arab civil society and advocates political, economic and social change for Palestinians who are denied access to infrastructure and services due to what it describes as "discriminatory practices and policies of the (Israeli) State".
In April, 2010 he was prevented by Israeli forces from leaving the country. Two weeks later, Makhoul was arrested, along with fellow activist Omar Sayid, an Israeli Arab pharmacist, and accused of consorting with a Hezbollah agent on previous visits to Arab countries. His arrest was also ordered sealed by an Israeli court at the request of the Shabak (also known as Shin Bet). However, Makhoul foresaw the arrest and had submitted an article to The Electronic Intifada that was published the day of his arrest. The Electronic Intifada also published a statement of Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations on the arrest of Ameer Makhoul, revealing the circumstances of his arrest. No particulars about the charges could be published either. Rechavia Berman, Israeli editor of the Hebrew news site YouPost, defied the gag order and published the news there.[4]
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The Shin Bet accused Makhoul of meeting with a known Hezbollah agent who recruited him to spy against Israel.
A week after Makhoul's arrest, the judge in the case allowed the partial lifting of the gag order so the media could name the accused, Makhoul. Haaretz, accidentally published the name of the alleged Hezbollah agent with whom Makhoul met. After it discovered its error (or on notification of the authorities), the newspaper redacted the name.
According to a 2010 indictment, as reported in Haaretz, both Makhoul and Sayid were recruited as spies for Hizballah by Jaja, who is described as an agent of the organization operating in Jordan [5]. The indictment states that in 2008 Makhoul met with a second, unnamed Hezbollah member in Denmark, introduced by Jaja. He agreed to provide information to the organization and point out potential recruits, and received encryption software as a means of communication. Makhoul then proceeded to provide his handler with the names of six potential recruits, all of which were later investigated by the Shin Bet and released without charge. Makhoul was asked to report on the exact locations of Shin Bet installations inside Israel as well as their security arrangements. The details of two such locations were passed to his Hizballah handlers, according to the indictment. Makhoul was instructed to provide information regarding the locations of other security and government installations, as well as the homes of prominent politicians and security personnel. In addition he was asked to record the loactions of rocket strikes during the Second Lebanon War, and to pass his observations regarding Israeli public opinion on various topics. The indictment alleges that Makhoul carried out surveillance of at least one IDF base, in the vicinity of Nachshonim. He also described to his handlers the vulnerability of the Israeli civilian population as a weak point.
On reading the Haaretz report, Jaja's wife, Razan Zuayter, wrote a letter to the Jordanian newspaper, Alghad, in which she denied the charge that her husband had any affiliation with Hezbollah.[6] She suggested that this is an attempt to prevent contacts between Israeli Palestinians living within the Green Line and those in the Palestinian diaspora. Berman contended that this was an attempt by the Israeli security services to combat attempts by Palestinian nationalist groups to re-define Israel as anything other than a Jewish State. This goal was enunciated by Shin Bet director, Yuval Diskin, in 2007, who warned that his agency would combat such political agitation with every means at its disposal even if the political activity was considered legal in the Israeli context.[7]
In October 2010, Makhoul admitted to contacting a foreign agent, conspiring to assisting an enemy in a time of war, and aggravated espionage for Hezbollah, as part of a plea bargain.[8] The most serious charge, "assisting an enemy in war", which could have carried a life sentence, was dropped by the prosecution as a result of the bargain.[3][8][9]
In January 2011, the Haifa District Court convicted Makhoul of spying and of contact with a foreign agent of Hezbollah. He received a nine year prison sentence, with an additional year suspended sentence.[2]
Amnesty International criticized Makhoul's imprisonment. Philip Luther, deputy director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa section, said:
Ameer Makhoul is well known for his human rights activism on behalf of Palestinians in Israel and those living under Israeli occupation. We fear that this may be the underlying reason for his imprisonment. We are also extremely concerned by allegations that he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated following his arrest on 6 May last year in a dawn police raid on his home in Haifa, by the fact that he was not permitted to see his lawyers for 12 days after his arrest, and by the gag order that prohibited media coverage on the case during this time.[9]
Amnesty International described the conviction as "very disturbing development", called on the Israeli authorities to end what they described as "harassment of Palestinian human rights activists" and said that they were "extremely concerned by allegations that he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated following his arrest".[10][9]