HAIFA - The Haifa District Court sentenced northern Israel resident Diab Ali to 16 years in prison on Wednesday for his involvement in helping to plan terror attacks in Jerusalem and the northern Galilee region.
Ali, 31, was arrested in August on suspicion of aiding a terrorist plan a bomb attack at a Jerusalem coffee shop. Fortunately, the attack was averted after the would-be suicide bomber changed his mind at the last minute.
The bomber was eventually shot and killed in a gun battle with security forces in Hebron, in the West Bank.
At the time, Ali worked as a teacher near Jerusalem and was a graduate student at Hebrew University. He used his "strategic position" to gather information regarding popular hang-out spots and meeting places in Jerusalem.
He then offered this information to terrorists to be used in carrying out potential attacks.
Brainwashed by Hamas?
Ali also collected information to be used in staging an attack on an armament factory near his home village in the Galilee. He arranged observation posts and collected data about workers' transportation arrangements, which he then relayed to a Hamas member.
Investigators later said that bus schedules to and from the factory were found in his possession.
"They meant to stage an attack on one of the buses, using grenades and explosive devices," one investigator said.
The two also examined other potential spots for carrying out attacks in the north.
Upon his arrest, Ali told Ynet that Hamas's Imams had brainwashed him into collecting the information.