East J'lem man charged with bid to sell Hezbollah info on MIA

The Jerusalem District Court on Friday indicted an East Jerusalem man who allegedly tried to sell information on the whereabouts of missing Israel Defense Forces soldier Guy Hever in order to secure the release of his brother who is incarcerated in Israel on charges of terrorism.

The suspect, a member of the Democratic Front, was arrested on October 6, following a joint investigation by the Shin Bet security service and the Jerusalem Police Special Unit, a gag order lifted Friday revealed.

During his questioning, the suspect confessed to trying to sell information about the abducted soldier's whereabouts as part of a scheme to ensure the release of his brother, who is sitting out a sentence in an Israeli prison until 2023 for implementing terror attacks.

Security forces believe that the suspect established contacts with a Hezbollah guerilla, claiming that information about the soldier could give the militant group an advantage in negotiations with Israel regarding the release of its captured fighters ? including Samir Kuntar.

According to the defense establishment, the suspect did not actually possess any information about the fate of soldier, who has been missing since 1997.

Hever, from the town of Kochav Yair, left his base in the central Golan Heights in uniform and armed with his personal rifle on August 16, 1997. Since then, his whereabouts remain a mystery. Hever's family has alleged that Hever was repeatedly humiliated and suffered abuse at the hands of his commanding officers just prior to his disappearance.

In the years since, appeals have been made to diplomatic officials from abroad in an effort to ascertain whether Hever was abducted and transferred to Syria. So far, attempts to locate Hever have gone for naught.

	Missing IDF soldier Guy Hever (Archives)