(Adds lawyer's denial)

JERUSALEM, July 9 (Reuters) - Israel has indicted two of its Arab citizens for links to al Qaeda and for planning attacks inside the Jewish state, the Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said on Wednesday.

The two men, Bedouins from Rahat village in southern Israel, used Internet sites to gather and relay information to al Qaeda about potential targets, including Israel's Ben-Gurion airport, army bases and a Tel Aviv office tower, the Shin Bet said.

It identified the men as Taher Abu Skut, 21, and Omar Abu Skut, 20. Israeli media described them as cousins.

A lawyer for the family acknowledged that at least one of the suspects came across militant sites on the Internet, but said this was by accident and that he provided no sensitive information.

"We are talking about an ordinary family, that has no intention of harming national security," attorney Yusuf Nassasra told Israeli television.

The Shin Bet said Taher asked his contacts in al Qaeda to help him contact fighters in Iraq and Saudi Arabia "in order for them to carry out an attack against the Jews".

Arabs make up around 20 percent of Israel's population and, while generally sympathetic to the Palestinian struggle for statehood, rarely take up arms themselves. (Reporting by Avida Landau, Editing by Sami Aboudi)

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