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Two Palestinians Charged in ISIS-Linked Plot to Bomb Synagogue and Israeli Embassy in Berlin

Two German-born men of Palestinian descent have been charged with plotting to bomb a synagogue and the Israeli embassy in Berlin, Benjamin Weinthal, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, reported Wednesday in The Jerusalem Post.

The suspects were accused of “planning a massive act of violence” against Israeli and Jewish targets between December 2014 and July 2015.

According to Tobiah Kaehni, a spokesman for Berlin’s criminal court, the men possessed pistol cartridges, knives, and explosives similar to those previously used by ISIS. While no operational connection between the suspects and ISIS has yet been established, the leader, identified as Ali El-I, had ISIS propaganda on his phone and was reportedly fascinated by an ISIS terror attack on a Tunisian resort in June.

Kaehni said that witnesses saw the explosives –or heard about the bombs—that Ali EL-I and Mohamed El-N planned to use in a terror attack. The witnesses or witness reported the plan to the police. The authorities arrested both men in July. Prior to their incarceration, both men lived in a homeless facility for youths in the Wedding district of Berlin.

The men purchased illegal fireworks explosives and 14 starting pistol cartridges. The explosives, according to the criminal court spokesman, were not found. The men possessed illegal knives and baseball bats.

Because the two suspects were 20 years old at the time of their arrest, they could be tried as either juveniles or adults. They face up to 10 years in prison if convicted as adults. The trial is scheduled to last until January 14.

It was reported that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of last month’s terror attacks in Paris, also sought Jewish targets. The attack on the Bataclan Theater, which had ties to Jews and Israel, was the deadliest. Abaaoud previously fought with ISIS in Syria and appeared in a video saying that he wanted to see “the blood of infidels.”

Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino terrorists, also subscribed to ISIS ideology and was “obsessed” with Israel, according to his father. Farook’s wife, Tashfeen Malik, pledged allegiance to ISIS as the pair was carrying out their attack.

In October, ISIS published a video of a masked man threatening Israel in fluent Hebrew. In March, Berliner Morgenpost released a video of the Israeli ambassador to Germany, Yakov Hadas-Handelsman, reading the roughly 20 pieces of hate mail the embassy receives on a daily basis.

[Photo: copelaes / Flickr ]