PM offers condolences for David Haines’s murder

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered condolences over the killing of British aid worker David Haines at the hands of the Islamic State, saying Sunday that the terror group along with Hamas, Hezbollah and other extremist Islamic organizations, are “branches of the same poisonous tree.”

Haines was the third Westerner to be videotaped being beheaded by the jihadi group, in a recording released early Sunday.

“We have been notified today of another act of savagery from ISIS [Islamic State] and I send our condolences to the people of Britain. We understand what kind of barbarism they face,” Netanyahu said, speaking at a meeting with a delegation from Israel Bonds.

“ISIS and Hamas and al-Qaeda and al-Nusra and Boko Haram and Hezbollah, supported by Iran — they’re branches of the same poisonous tree,” he said, alleging that the groups have the “same ideology with minor nuances.”

Netanyahu has made similar allegations in the past, in an attempt to rally world opinion against Hamas.

The “great difference” between Islamic State and the rest is that “the former lop heads off and the others shoot people in the head,” he added.

Haines, who was captured in March in Syria, is the latest Westerner to be beheaded by Islamic State. A video showing the act was released late Saturday.

In August American journalist James Foley was beheaded, and earlier this month, another captured American journalist, Steven Sotloff, received the same treatment. Sotloff was later revealed to have received his bachelor’s degree at the IDC in Herzila and held Israeli citizenship, which was kept secret during his journalistic activities in the Arab world.

While the US has worked toward a regional coalition to thwart IS, analysts say Israel is likely to take a backseat, at least publicly.