The woman had been charged with illegally leaving the country and illegally entering Syria. After she was returned in the prisoner swap, she fled a mental institution where she was staying, but was caught.
“In contrast to past cases in which there was a violation of state security and no indictment was filed against people who crossed the border, in this case, it is clear to all that the young woman did not harm anyone and had no intention of harming state security,” said attorneys Anat Yaari and Iyad Azzam from the Public Defender’s Office, who represent the woman, at the time of the indictment. “It is therefore very puzzling that precisely against a young woman with no criminal record who comes from a complex background they chose to file an indictment.”
The indictment detailed how the woman entered Syria. On January 31, the woman traveled to Kiryat Shmona in the Golan Heights, and on February 1, she traveled by bus to Majdal Shams. From Majdal Shams, she walked on foot to Mount Hermon with a bag of food, personal equipment, a phone and a camera.
At about midnight, she crossed the border into Syria and left the bag behind. She then walked for a number of hours before arriving at the Syrian village of Hader, located east of Majdal Shams, where she was surrounded by a large crowd and brought to the local police station. At the police station, her camera was confiscated and she was transferred to a jail and interrogated before being transferred to a prison in Damascus, where she was kept in harsh conditions for a number of days.
While imprisoned, she told Syrian authorities where she crossed the border and showed them the location on a map, as well as explained to them how she made the journey. The authorities asked her to show them how she walked and to return on the path and to lead Syrian soldiers to an IDF position so that they could shoot IDF soldiers. The woman refused to do so and said that she wasn’t interested in death or killing and was told that the IDF soldiers wouldn’t be killed, but would instead be kidnapped and brought to Syria.
The woman was kept in Syrian custody until February 16, and, after a deal was reached between Israel and Syria, she was flown to Russia and returned to Israel on February 19.
This was not the first time the woman has illegally crossed borders or put herself at risk with Israel’s neighbors. She has also tried entering or nearing the borders of Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan.
Details of the agreement reached between Israel and Syria through Russian mediation to bring the woman back from Syria are still unclear and some details are under military censor. Israel released two shepherds who had crossed into Israel in exchange for the woman and also reportedly agreed to buy over a million dollars worth of Russian coronavirus vaccines for Syria.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that no Israeli vaccines were sent to Syria in the exchange deal, but did not deny that Israel paid for vaccines. Syrian state news agency SANA rejected the reports that vaccinations had been provided by Israel.