State Attorney Amit Isman has directed police to expand the list of suspected offenses against Bezalel Zini and two other soldiers to include “assisting the enemy in wartime,” a move taken at the final stage of a probe into the alleged smuggling of cigarettes into the Gaza Strip during the war.

Under Israeli law, assisting the enemy in wartime is among the gravest criminal offenses, with penalties that can reach life imprisonment or even death.

The decision marks a sharp escalation from a similar case only weeks ago, when soldiers from the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion accused of smuggling cigarettes into Gaza were charged with a lesser security offense carrying a maximum sentence of five years. Investigators say Zini and the two other suspects are alleged to have engaged in the same conduct.

MK Moshe Saada, who previously served as deputy and acting head of the Police Internal Investigations Department (Mahash), condemned the prosecutor’s decision. “Amit Isman, who is unfit and has failed, continues to use his position for political purposes and to act systematically to thwart members of the national camp,” Saada said.

Saada went further, accusing the prosecution of abusing its authority. “The delusional instruction to add an offense of assisting the enemy-punishable by death or life imprisonment-to an allegation of cigarette smuggling is part of a planned witch hunt whose goal is to trigger a constitutional crisis or to force the resignation of the Shin Bet chief, who exposed the military advocate general affair and does not fall in line with Isman and his deep-state associates.”

Earlier on Tuesday, a court approved publication of the fact that Zini is suspected of involvement in the wartime smuggling of cigarettes into Gaza.

Police told the court that Zini’s questioning has concluded and stressed that the central allegation against him relates solely to cigarette smuggling. His detention, along with that of the two other soldiers, was extended until Thursday. At the same time, authorities confirmed that all three are also under investigation for assisting the enemy in wartime.

According to police, investigators carried out a series of investigative steps over the past several weeks and have now completed the evidence-gathering phase.

Following developments in the case, prosecutors have submitted a prosecutor’s statement against Zini, a procedural step that typically precedes the filing of formal charges, which is expected on Thursday.