The Islamic State seal. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The Islamic State seal. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

(JNS.org) The Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency believe that dozens more Israeli Arabs are planning to join the Islamic State terrorist group after leaving Israel for Turkey or Jordan, Israel Hayom reported.

Israeli authorities believe that at least 30 Israeli Arabs are already fighting for Islamic State, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, and other extremist groups. Israeli Arabs aiming to join Islamic State are typically taken to Syria by a network of smugglers after arriving in the Turkish resort town of Antalya.

Authorities confirmed that three men in their 20s from the Lower Galilee town of Yafia left Israel for Turkey last week and joined Islamic State militias in Syria and Iraq. The three reportedly told their families that they were going to Turkey on vacation for the Eid al-Adha holiday.

A fourth friend went with them to Turkey, but decided not to go on to Syria and returned to Israel, where he told his friends’ families about the others’ whereabouts.

Separately, an Israeli Arab man from Qalansawe in central Israel was imprisoned by Syrian intelligence after trying to infiltrate into Syria to join rebels in the civil war there.

Powered by WPeMatico