Jerusalem Arab gets 2 years for trying to join IS

An East Jerusalem Palestinian was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for planning to join the Islamic State group and seeking to fight for it in war-torn Syria.

The Jerusalem District Court sentenced Khalil Adel Khalil, 25, after he was convicted of attempting to join an unlawful organization, attempting to contact foreign agents, and traveling to illegal destinations — a charge that signifies travel to states currently at war with Israel.

Khalil confessed he had planned to travel to Syria in August 2014 with his friend Sami a-Aziz Abu Sneina, according to a statement from the court.

Khalil worked as a medical staffer at Eitanim Psychiatric Hospital in the Judean Hills. He said he and Abu Sneina decided to join IS after watching recruitment videos online. Before leaving Israel, he told his family and bosses he was taking a vacation to make a religious pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

Instead, Khalil and Abu Sneina bought one-way tickets to Turkey.

After landing in Istanbul, the two traveled to a prearranged house in the south of the country where they met several IS recruits, including two other Arab Israelis. The two were then smuggled across the Syrian border and later joined up with IS forces in the embattled country.

Khalil returned to Israel several weeks later and was arrested by the Shin Bet on March 1. There was no word on Abu Sneina’s fate or whereabouts.

Earlier this year, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon declared the Islamic State an illegal organization, making support for the terror group officially a crime in Israel.

Khalil’s sentencing came within hours of the indictment of two Arab Israelis for plotting to carry out terror attacks in Israel in support of the Islamic State.

The pair intended to join the terrorist organization’s war effort in Syria and Iraq, and made it as far as Turkey before hearing firsthand stories of conditions in the war and deciding to turn back, the Shin Bet security service said.

The cousins — Ahmad Talal Ahmad Saidah, 20, and Muhammad Omar Bader Hassan, 23 — were picked up by law enforcement on November 22, but the details of their case were kept under a gag order until their indictment on Thursday.

Saidah, a resident of Umm al-Ghanam, and Hassan, from Reineh, both near Nazareth, admitted to supporting the Islamic State, telling interrogators about their failed attempt to join the organization.

On May 25, the two cousins made their way to Turkey, a common stopover destination for foreigners on the way to Syria, where they made contact with an Islamic State smuggler who was to help them across the border.

As they waited for their opportunity to enter Syria and start fighting alongside the Islamic State, however, the two cousins began hearing refugees’ stories about the atrocities being committed there by the terrorist group. Terrified, Saidah and Hassan decided not to join the fighting in Syria, the cousins told Shin Bet interrogators.

The two men returned to Israel, but kept up their connection with the Islamic State, watching the group’s propaganda and speaking with other IS supporters in Israel. They also continued considering the possibility of joining the Islamic State in Iraq, even contacting a fighter there, the Shin Bet said in a statement.

In the meantime, Hassan and Saidah began plotting terror attacks, and Saidah also attempted to purchase a gun in order to carry out such an attack at Golani Junction in northern Israel, which they considered a good location for a strike as there are often large concentrations of soldiers there, they told interrogators.

But before they could carry out such an attack, the two cousins were arrested by Shin Bet agents and Israel Police officers.

Saidah was also found to have taken a photograph of himself with a gun and to have fired the weapon into the air during a wedding ceremony in his village.

This case exposes “the great risk of combining a radical ideology with easy access to illegal weaponry,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

Hassan and Saidah were accused of supporting an illegal organization, contacting a foreign agent, attempting to travel to a forbidden country, attempting to purchase an illegal weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime by Judge Atrash Shaher in a Nazareth District Court.

Saidah was also charged with illegally handling a weapon and firing a weapon within a residential area.

All told, at least 40 Israelis are believed to have joined the Islamic State in recent years, according to Shin Bet assessments.

Earlier this month, five residents of Nazareth were arrested for planning terror attacks in support of IS.

Seven men were indicted in Nazareth in October for attempting to carry out terror attacks in Israel under the Islamic State’s flag, having already acquired weapons and scoped out army bases and police stations.

Last month, six Arab Israelis from Jaljulia were arrested for preparing to join Islamic State after a seventh man successfully joined the organization by hang gliding into Syria from the Golan Heights.

Adiv Sterman contributed to this report.