He asked Heide to travel with him to Egypt and tell her father that his
life would be in danger if he did not stop his work in Egypt. Heide
went to the Swiss police, who suggested that she arrange a meeting
with the “friend.” When they met, she taped their conversation. The
Swiss police arrested Joklik and Ben-Gal, who were sentenced to two
months in jail. Since both of them had already been in custody for
five months, they were released immediately after the trial.GRABLI, RAPHAEL.Grabli joined the Information Service(Shai) in
1947, prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948. A
telephone exchange operator in Tiberias, he eavesdropped on the British
and Arab conversations and reported them to the local Shai commander.
After the Shai’s dismantling on 30 June 1948, Grabli joined Military
Intelligence, in which he worked cultivating ties with Druse villages
across the Syrian border. With his superior Aryeh Bibi, he succeeded in
making these ties with the Druse a fully fledged spy network with a sub-
stantial number of Druse soldiers of the Syrian army, including a com-
pany commander and a sergeant. These Syrian operatives believed that
the Israelis might one day occupy the Golan Heights, so it made sense
to work for them. In 1949 Grabli took command of this unit.
The Druse operatives would cross the border to Israel from the Syr-
ian side once every two weeks with information for Grabli. The Druse
sergeant provided Grabli with the Syrian military radio communication
code. In 1950 Grabli obtained from him a 10-page document outlining
the redeployment of the Syrian forces along the Golan Heights based
on the recommendation of the German military advisers to Syria.
The top operator was Hamoud Safadi, who customarily crossed the
border himself bringing information. After an Israeli-Syrian military
encounter in May 1951, Safadi told Grabli that Syria had declared a
general mobilization alert for its army.
Another Druse, Kamal Kanj, offered his services to Grabli’s unit
but was rejected because he belonged to a rival group of Safadi’s.
Kanj informed the Syrian authorities about Safadi and his espionage
network, and in 1951 the Druse espionage network was caught by the
Syrian authorities. Safadi received the death sentence, which later
was commuted to life imprisonment. Because of the brutal torture he
endured, Safadi died in prison. One of Safadi’s group members man-
aged to flee to Israel in 1951. He was recruited by the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) and given the rank of first lieutenant.102 • GRABLI, RAPHAEL06-102 (02) A-G.qxd 3/24/06 7:23 AM Page 102