Israeli Arab convicted of membership in Nusra Front

An Israeli Arab man was convicted Wednesday in the Haifa District Court for membership in the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front.

The man, who was not named by the court, spent six months training with various jihadist groups in Syria last year. He was convicted on several charges, including membership in an illegal organization, illegal military training, providing services and assistance to an illegal organization, and obstruction of justice.

“While it is true that [prosecutors] did not prove that the defendant had [specific] intentions to harm the State of Israel, that does not pardon his actions,” a statement by the court said Wednesday.

“He took part in extensive and diverse training during the half-year in which he was a member of various groups, including the al-Nusra Front, and in various locations.”

According to the court ruling, he trained in bomb-making, infantry combat and the use of various weapons, including assault rifles and RPGs.

The court concluded that the man, identified as a resident of the town of Kafr Yasif in the northern Galilee, “was not engaging in adventurous behavior, but in the behavior of one who wishes to be part of a terror organization, and even to die as a ‘martyr’ in a jihad in which he sought to participate.”

The al-Nusra Front, the ruling read, “constitutes an arm of al-Qaeda. It was not established just to battle against the Assad regime. It is a Salafist jihadist Islamic organization for which the toppling of the Assad regime is only part of a comprehensive regional plan that intends to establish an Islamic regime in the region, including by replacing the State of Israel, and through the use of violence to achieve its goals.”

Israel formally declared several Syrian jihadist groups, including Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front, illegal organizations in late 2014.

According to security services, more than 50 Israeli citizens have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State.

In December 2015, in two separate incidents, an East Jerusalem man and five residents of Nazareth were arrested for planning terror attacks in support of IS.

In November, 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.

And in October, in the first indictments for IS-affiliated activity on Israeli soil, seven men were indicted in Nazareth 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.