Israeli intelligence chief's brother charged with smuggling cigarettes into Gaza
AI Summary
Bezalel Zini, the brother of Israel's Shin Bet intelligence chief, has been charged with aiding the enemy in wartime for allegedly smuggling cigarettes into Gaza. The indictment claims Zini, a military reservist, smuggled 14 cartons of cigarettes, aware that Hamas could profit from their resale. Prosecutors allege the smuggling operation, which began before the October ceasefire, involved pretending to be on military duty to mislead border soldiers. Zini is also accused of fraud, bribery, and tax offenses, and was arrested along with two alleged accomplices. The indictment is part of a larger case against a crime ring accused of smuggling various goods into Gaza, with tobacco sales allegedly funneling millions of shekels to Hamas. Zini's lawyers deny the charges, arguing that terrorism laws are inappropriate for cigarette smuggling.
Key Entities & Roles
Keywords
Sentiment Analysis
Source Transparency
This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).
Topic Connections
Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories