Azzam Azzam

Azzam Azzam (, Levantine Arabic: , ; born 1962) is an Israeli Druze who was convicted in Egypt of spying for Israel, and jailed for eight years. He maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal.

Arrest and trial Azzam is from the town of Maghar, Israel. A mechanic by training, he worked for Tefron, an Israeli textile company. As part of his work for Tefron, he made trips to Egypt to visit local factories which were subcontractors of the company. During one such visit in November 1996, he was arrested in Cairo by the State Security Investigations Service. His arrest was kept secret for several days. It was only after it was noted in Israel that his whereabouts were unknown, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry and an official Israeli mission to an economic conference in Cairo pressed the issue with the Egyptian government that his arrest was made known.

Originally accused of industrial espionage, he was later accused of using women's underwear soaked in invisible ink to pass information to Israel's intelligence agency Mossad.

The trial opened on April 24, 1997, but was postponed until May 18, when it was discovered that the lawyer for his Egyptian co-defendant, Emad Abdel-Hamid Ismail, was not present.

Freed by Egypt After Shabak (Israel's internal security agency) head Avi Dichter had negotiated with his Egyptian counterparts, Azzam was released on December 5, 2004. In return, Israel freed six jailed Egyptian students who were accused of planning terrorist attacks.

Azzam expressed gratitude to the government of Israel, and to Ariel Sharon in particular, telling him "I love you very much," Azzam said. "I told my brothers that if I don't get out when Ariel Sharon is prime minister, I never will. I am lucky to have been born in Israel and I'm proud of it."

Later life Azzam returned to his home village of Maghar. In 2005, he lit the torch during the main ceremony of Israeli Independence Day. He found work as a branch manager for the Israeli company "Ace Buy-and-Build". Later, he found work as a maintenance man in the Haifa oil refineries. He also participated in Survivor 10: V.I.P, the sixth season of the Israeli reality show Survivor.