Israeli sentenced to 22 months for joining Islamic State
23-year-old Ahmad Shurbaji spent three months with terror group, fought in two battles against Assad forces
The Haifa Magistrate’s Court on Monday sentenced an Arab Israeli man to 22 months’ imprisonment for leaving Israel for Syria and serving for three months as a fighter in the ranks of the Islamic State group.
Ahmad Shurbaji, 23, was convicted of illegal exit to an enemy state and illegal military training.
The start of the 22-month sentence was backdated to April 20, 2014, the day Shurbaji was arrested upon his return from Syria. If he serves the full sentence, without early release for good behavior, he will complete his sentence in February 2016.
According to the ruling, Shurbaji, along with several unnamed friends, decided on January 16 of this year to leave Israel to join the Islamic State group. They made their way to Syria through Turkey, joined the training camp of a group called Jish Mohammed, and after a one-week training period, joined the ranks of the Islamic State.
During his time as an IS fighter, Shurbaji participated in religious classes, manned roadblocks against forces loyal to the Assad regime, and took part as a fighter in two battles. His Israeli passport was taken by his IS commanders.
On April 16, the ruling relates, Shurbaji contacted an agent of Israel’s Shin Bet security service and begged to return to Israel, saying his attempt to join the Islamic State group had been a “mistake.”
Before leaving the country, he had been warned by a Shin Bet investigator not to go fight for Islamic State.
Lacking a passport, Shurbaji made his way to Israel with the help of smugglers, “risking his life,” his defense attorneys said.
On April 20, he landed at Ben Gurion International Airport and was arrested by Israeli authorities.
Prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of four years, noting that the case had “extenuating circumstances,” including the possibility that others might follow Shurbaji’s example, the potential for Israelis to offer information on Israeli defenses to the Islamic State, and the fact that he left the country despite being warned about the consequences.
Shurbaji confessed to the crimes on September 17. His defense argued that Islamic State was only formally declared an illegal terror organization under Israeli law on September 3 of this year, long after he had already returned from serving with the group.