Former Arab-Israeli Knesset member accused of espionage reportedly ‘strongly influenced’ hostage deal talks

A former Israeli Knesset member of the Balad party, who fled the nation after being accused of espionage and treason, played an important role in drafting the outline for the current hostage deal negotiations, French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Sunday.

Former Knesset Member Azmi Bishara fled Israel in 2007 and has reportedly become an important advisor to the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. If true, the French report is a worrying sign for Israel.

Israel had accused Bishara of directly assisting Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon War, as well as maintaining contact with foreign intelligence agents.

Egypt and Qatar are the most important mediators in the current talks between Hamas and Israel.

A source told Le Figaro that Bishara “strongly influenced the drafting” of the latest outline for the negotiations that was agreed upon in Paris last month - the basis for the ongoing negotiations with Hamas. Its principles include the release of some 40 Israeli hostages in exchange for a six-week truce and the release of hundreds of convicted Palestinian terrorists by Israel.

Bishara, an Arab-Israeli Christian from Nazareth, was among the founders of the Arab-Israeli Balad party, a left-wing radical nationalistic party that is opposed to Israel as a Jewish state.

At the time Bishara fled Israel, he had provided “information, suggestions and recommendations,” including censored material, to his contacts in Lebanon during the war, a Shin Bet official said at the time. Bishara was fully aware of the sensitivity of the information and was given “missions” from Hezbollah, which he then carried out, according to the statement.

“Bishara allegedly advised Hezbollah on the ramifications of firing missiles further south than Haifa. At the time, Hezbollah was debating whether to strike at targets deeper inside Israel. A few days later, missiles struck south of Haifa for the first time,” Haaretz reported in 2007.

He was also suspected of contact with other foreign intelligence agents who transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to Bishara via Jordan.

Bishara used his diplomatic immunity as a serving member of the Knesset to leave the country, before declaring that he wouldn’t return because he didn’t believe he would receive a fair trial.

Since fleeing Israel, Bishara has also established himself as a senior advisor to the Qatari Royal Family and created the media outlet, Al Araby Al Jadeed, where he continues to promote anti-Israel activism.

On Oct. 12, he wrote in his opinion column on the site: “The combined astonishment and outpouring of emotion since the shock events of 7 October, which challenged Israeli arrogance and Arab frustrations, make it difficult to write dispassionately about the 'Al-Aqsa Flood' operation and the ensuing onslaught against Gaza.”

Bishara described the Hamas invasion and following massacre of some 1,200 Israelis as “the attack by Al-Qassam Brigades on 7 October on the military bases and towns in the so-called ‘Gaza Envelope’.”

He further accused U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “airing… outright fabrications and disinformation” regarding events on Oct. 7 to “justify a barbaric and total Israeli war without restraint to exact an unbearable price paid by the Palestinian population of Gaza.”