Five Israeli-Arabs sentenced for trying to join ISIS
The five convicted individuals join a growing list of Israeli-Arabs attempting to join ISIS; Israeli-Arabs from all over Israel are signing up to join the group, with at least 50 known to be in Syria fighting on its behalf, and seven to have died in its ranks.
The Haifa District Court has sentenced five Israeli-Arabs from the Galilee to five years in prison for attempting to join ISIS.
The five individuals, four of whom are from the town of Sakhnin in northern Israel, were convicted of membership in an illegal organization, expressing solidarity with ISIS, and seeking to harm the State of Israel.
Those sentenced are: Karim abu-Salah, 22, who was sentenced to six years; Sharif abu-Salah, 30, who recieved three years; Haisam Marisat, 31, from Deir Hanna who was sentenced to four-and-a-half years; Mohammad abu-Salah, 29, who was sentenced to two-and-a half-years; and Fadi Bashir, 30, who was sentenced to three years.
According to the indictment, Karim abu-Salah arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport on July 20, 2014 in an attempt to enter Syria, but was stopped by the Shin Bet. He then continued to meet with his associates, discussing issues relating to the terror group and reflecting on why he had failed.
Abu-Salah and his associates would occasionally send ISIS videos to each other showing various activities performed by the terror group.
The owner of a farm, named as 'Aladin'—who is also a lawyer accused of encouraging people to join ISIS—along with Fadi Bashir, had ISIS paraphernalia in their possession.
On August 22, 2014, 'Aladin' discussed and explained to the accused how to create Molotov cocktails and how to use them.
Meanwhile, Karim abu-Salah admitted to planning an attack against security forces and members of the Druze community with a firearm. Karim then approached various people in an attempt to acquire a firearm in order to carry out the attack.
The phenomenon of Israeli-Arabs attempting to join ISIS has been on the rise in recent months. Seven Israeli-Arabs have been killed fighting for ISIS in the Syrian civil war so far.
Those killed were Israeli-Arab residents from all over Israel—from Taybe in the center; Iksal, Nazareth, and Um al-Fahm in the north, and al-Hura in the south. Approximately 50 Israeli-Arabs are known to have joined ISIS in Syria.
The sixth Israeli-Arab to be killed fighting alongside ISIS in Syria was from Um al-Fahm, and the family claims that he was killed by a US airstrike.
His name was Halil Salah, 28, and managed to infiltrate into northern Syria from Turkey three years ago.
A family friend was quoted as saying that "the family lost touch with their son. The only thing that they were told was that he was killed, and nothing else."
"It’s a shame for anyone to join these types of organizations because everyone knows how it ends. It's still hard for me to understand who's behind the brain washing of our young people and is convincing them to join ISIS. It's something very serious."
Fadi Bashir is the son of the former mayor of Sakhnin. He is engaged and has no prior criminal record. After high school, Bashir worked studied at a pre-college course at the Technion in Haifa.
He then went to Italy to study mechanical engineering, but had to flee in 2013 when he entered the radar of authorities for his contacts with a man who joined a terrorist organization in Syria.
Bashir denied formal responsibility for his actions and claimed that he was not concerned with ideology but supported the organization after he arrived at the conclusion that ISIS was the dominant force in the Syrian civil war.
