A Golan resident and member of the Druze community who had been arrested with his father over a year ago on charges of spying for Iran was convicted Wednesday in a ruling issued by Judge Moran Margalit and distributed Thursday. The court rejected Tahrir Safdi’s claim that he had been improperly questioned by the Shin Bet and Israel Police, alleging that his interrogators applied improper pressure during questioning.

The alleged spy was convicted of passing sensitive information to Iran over the course of several years regarding IDF activity in Israel’s north, including tank movements and missile impact locations. Safdi suspected or knew that his contact had ties to Iranian and Syrian intelligence.

The ruling names Safdi’s contact as Hossam Zidan, a Syrian who worked as a correspondent for the Iranian outlet Al-Alam. Safdi admitted that he believed Zidan was working for Iran’s Quds Force, an elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for military intelligence and supporting Iran’s proxy groups throughout the region, among other things.

According to the court, Safdi was introduced to Zidan through his father, who had known him for a long time, and Safdi continued to transmit information to Zidan even after he began to suspect that Zidan was not a mere journalist. Over a period spanning 2019 to 2024, Safdi, along with his father, sent photos to Zidan of missile fall sites and a military tank in the Golan Heights, and during the war he continued to send information regarding tank movements, missile impacts and missile fire in various locations.

Safdi denied the charges and claimed that his statement that he believed Zidan was more than a professional journalist had been extracted under duress, but Margalit maintained that there was enough evidence that he had provided information “freely and voluntarily” and that the evidence showed “to the required degree and beyond” that Safdi fully understood implications of his actions for state security. He also acted to conceal his relationship with Zidan, she argued, which he would not have done if it were as innocent as he claimed.

Arguments for sentencing are scheduled for April 15.