Fact: two Israeli citizens have been arrested on suspicion of making ‘contact with an enemy agent’, specifically Hizbollah.

Beyond that, pending the results of the ongoing investigation, any further comment on the case is, as Yaacov Lozowick so rightly points out, mere speculation. This fact does not seem to have deterred either Ben White or the Guardian from jumping to the ridiculous conclusion that ‘Israel seeks to silence dissent’ .

Hizbollah is of course an Iranian-backed terror organization with the raison d’etre of bringing about Israel’s destruction. Should the suspicions that Ameer Makhoul and Omar Said Abdo have been spying for Hizbollah prove to have foundation, this would be a case of citizens of a sovereign country conspiring with that country’s enemies. Unfortunately, such cases have occurred in Israel in the past and were at the time dealt with in the same manner as this case is being dealt with now, regardless of the religion or ethnic background of the suspect. Despite White’s claims, Makhoul and Said Abdo are not being investigated as part of a campaign to “suppress dissent and limit civil liberties”; no citizen of any democratic country is at liberty to betray it by spying for its enemies, and when that country is at war such actions take on even more serious implications. As difficult as it may be for Ben White to comprehend, the lives of Israeli citizens of all ages, creeds, ethnic backgrounds and political opinions could be endangered by such acts of treason as those currently being investigated.

White, of course, cares not a fig for the lives of Israeli children living under the shadow of Hizbollah missiles; the important thing on his agenda is to grasp yet another opportunity to self-promote by turning a non-story into an excuse for demonizing Israel. Sadly, the Guardian lowers itself to the same populist level as White by publishing this malicious and irresponsible torrent of meaningless speculation.

As usual, time will tell and the details of this case will eventually be made public when the investigation is complete and the security forces are sure that publicity will not compromise their work. In the meantime, although we know very little about the cases of Makhoul and Said Abdo, we have learned an awful lot about the integrity – or lack of it – of both Ben White and the Guardian. It is doubtful that anyone familiar with either of them would be overly surprised.