An Israeli ex-minister was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Tuesday for spying for his countrys main enemy Iran after a plea bargain in the case, the prosecutor said. Gonen Segev, who served as energy and infrastructure minister from 1995 to 1996, had previously agreed to a plea bargain on charges of serious espionage and transfer of information to the enemy. Court hearings were held in secret due to the nature of the case. Prosecutor Geula Cohen confirmed to journalists outside the Jerusalem court that the judge had accepted the plea bargain and issued the sentence. Segev met with his Iranian handlers in a number of countries, including Iran, and gave them information about Israeli security that he had learned while serving as a minister, the prosecution charged. The Shin Bet security service has assessed that Segev did not have access to up-to-date information because more than two decades had passed since his service in cabinet. According to the Shin Bet, however, Segev had tried to obtain more information through his contacts in Israel. Segev served in the Labor government of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin after defecting from the far right to cast the decisive vote in favor of the Oslo II peace agreement with the Palestinians. He has previously served prison time on criminal charges. In 2004, he was charged with trying to smuggle 30,000 ecstasy pills into Israel from the Netherlands using a diplomatic passport with a falsified expiry date. The following year, he admitted the charges as part of a plea bargain. He has also been convicted of attempted credit card fraud.