The Haifa District Court sentences an Israeli Arab man to five years and ten months behind bars for joining the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq last year.
In June, the court found 42-year-old Wissam Zabidat, from the northern town of Sakhnin, guilty of several charges, including membership in a terrorist organization, membership in an illegal group, illegal military training, and contact with a foreign agent.
The sentence marks the harshest punishment levied against an Israeli citizen for joining the ranks of the terrorist organization.
Wissam and his wife had traveled to Iraq along with their three young children and spent over a year with the jihadist group before eventually escaping and making their way back to Israel, the Shin Bet security service said in a statement last October, when charges were filed against the two.
— Tamar Pileggi
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From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 19, 2017
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