Presiding judge Gamaleddin Rushdy also sentenced two Israeli citizens in absentia to 25 years in jail.

The businessman, Tareq Hassan, was arrested in August and charged four months later along with the two Israelis for seeking to recruit agents in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon to spy for Israel.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Thursday’s sentencing followed last week’s arrest of a dual Israeli-US national for allegedly spying for Israel.

Ilan Grapel was arrested on suspicion of sedition and inciting Egyptians to clash with the country’s military leadership.

Egyptian prosecutors said he was a Mossad agent. His family, however, maintains he was spending the summer in Cairo as an intern at a legal aid group. Israel also denies the 27-year-old Grapel is a spy.

Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979 but their relations have been cool. Often, relations between the two Middle Eastern neighbors became tense over what Cairo sees as Israel’s unwillingness to negotiate in good faith with the Palestinians and over similar spy cases.