Israeli cousins indicted for planning terror attacks, supporting IS

An Israeli court indicted two Arab Israelis on Thursday for supporting the Islamic State and plotting to carry out terror attacks inside Israel, law enforcement officials said.

The pair had intended to join the terrorist organization’s war effort in Syria and Iraq, even making it as far as Turkey before changing their minds when they heard stories of what was happening there, 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 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 such an attack could be carried out, the two cousins were arrested by Shin Bet 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 accessibility to illegal weaponry,” the Shin Bet said in its 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.

Dozens of Israelis have already been arrested for attempting to join the Islamic State or supporting the terrorist group.

Earlier this month, five residents of Nazareth were arrested for supporting the Islamic State and planning terror attacks.

Also in Nazareth, seven men were indicted in an Israeli court in October for attempting to carry out terror attacks in Israel under the Islamic State’s flag, acquiring weapons and scoping out army bases and police stations.

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

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