On Friday, Israel Hayom reported that the Shin Bet security agency informed Israeli political leaders of at least ten Israeli Arabs who had joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Shin Bet security service officials believe that at least 10 Israeli Arabs have joined the Islamic State terrorist group and are currently fighting with the organization in Iraq and Syria, officials briefed Israeli leaders recently. The information has been discussed at length behind closed doors.
The Shin Bet assessment rests on the fact that since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in March 2011, dozens of Israeli Arabs have joined various rebel groups currently fighting the Syrian army. The Shin Bet’s intelligence suggests that since the beginning of the civil war at least 25 individuals — Israeli Arabs known to hold radical views — have left Israel to join the “jihad” or holy war.
The Mossad, Military Intelligence, and the police are joining the Shin Bet in an effort to track Arab Israelis leaving to fight in Syria. The development is especially worrying for Israel because its security forces expect citizens fighting in Syria to become further radicalized, and to undergo military training. In addition, jihadist groups have tried to glean information about Israel from the Israeli Arab recruits.
In May, the Shin Bet security service announced that an Arab citizen of Israel from the Negev town of Hura was arrested in late April for helping two family members leave Israel, enter Syria, and join the ranks of the Islamic State.
In January, Shin Bet broke up an al Qaeda ring operating in the West Bank. The terrorists were planning to travel to Syria and receive training for a mass casualty attack. Last year, Israel’s chief of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi warned that Syria was becoming the “center of global jihad.”
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