Jail term for ex-Israel minister who spied for Iran

Gonen Segev, a former Israeli cabinet minister indicted on suspicion of spying for Iran, is escorted by prison guards as he arrives to court in Jerusalem on 5 July 2018 [RONEN ZVULUN/AFP/Getty Images]

After agreeing to a plea bargain, former Israeli minister Gonen Segev was sentenced yesterday to 11 years in prison over spying for Iran and intending to harm Israel, local media reported.

An Israeli district court handed down the verdict to Segev after it had approved the plea bargain, which saw the minister convicted of espionage and giving information to an enemy state.

The plea bargain excluded a more serious offensive, according to the Times of Israel, which is assisting enemy during wartime.

Segev, who served as infrastructure minister between January 1995 and June 1996, is been the most senior Israeli official to be held over such case.

The former official has previously served time in jail on drug smuggling charges and was released in 2007 when he moved to Nigeria, he later moved to Equatorial Guinea but was extradited to Israel last year for trial in this case.

Iranian official: Israeli ministers are sources of information for Iran

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