Arab lawyer from east Jerusalem arrested for aiding Hamas
Suspect allegedly met with terrorists in prison to exchange money for information.
By DANIEL K. EISENBUDHamas members at an anti-Israel rally in Rafah in southern Gaza, November 13, 2014. (photo credit: REUTERS)
An Arab attorney from east Jerusalem was arrested last month following a joint undercover investigation by Jerusalem Police and the Shin Bet into the man’s alleged meetings with Hamas prisoners to garner information in exchange for payment, police announced on Thursday.According to a statement, the suspect, Rami Alami, an attorney in his 30s from A-Tur who has an office in the Old City, was arrested on February 22 after meeting with multiple prisoners, including those in solitary confinement, for information to aid the terrorist organization.Police initiated the investigation last month upon receiving intelligence about the activities of Alami, the statement said. The investigation revealed that following the visits, he would wire NIS 400 from Hamas coffers into the prisoners’ accounts from his Jerusalem office.Upon his arrest, police and Shin Bet officials searched his office and home, where computers were seized, as well as receipts documenting numerous money transfers.During interrogation, Alami claimed that the meetings with inmates in prisons were coordinated with the Palestinian Prison Authority, which the authority subsequently denied.Alami’s detention was extended by a judge at Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, pending an indictment to be filed on Monday, police said.
