A 16-year-old Arab is under arrest for trying to recruit his classmates into Islamic State, the Israeli Police said on Thursday. The announcement came hours after it was cleared for publication that an Arab doctor in Beer-Sheva was also arrested for membership in the same terror group.
According to police, the suspect, who attends school in eastern Jerusalem, tried to spread ISIS ideology to his classmates. He also adopted the name of a previous ISIS leader as his own nickname on social media.
Police found on his phone a video explaining how to make a bomb and carry out acts of sabotage. Other files included formulas for producing explosive charges and instructions on how to purchase them, content discussing suicide attacks and the murder of innocents in Islamic law, and other inciting content.
Friends told investigators he tried to recruit them into ISIS, threatened those who didn’t, and expressed his desire to carry out an attack with a car bomb.
“The findings of the investigation and the various testimonies leave no room for doubt that the suspect is a terrorist operative in the service of the ISIS organization,” said Sergeant Major Kamel Falah, who led the police investigation. “The fact that he took advantage of being a school student and the school, in order to spread the ideology of the terrorist organization and recruit people to its services is serious, and the fact that many in the school — including several teachers — knew about it and did not lift a finger and report to the authorities to stop him is also worrying.”
Earlier on Thursday, it was cleared for publication that Muhammad Azzam, a 34-year-old Israeli doctor in Beer-Sheva was arrested for joining ISIS.
Azzam, a specialist doctor, worked at Beer-Sheva’s Soroka Medical Center.
Azzam was arrested in July on suspicion of unspecified security activities inspired by ISIS. According to the indictment filed on Thursday, he swore allegiance to Islamic State after consuming the terror’s online incitement for months.
A file on Azzam’s phone contained instructions for preparing various poisons in gas and liquid form, including, ricin, chlorine, and mustard gas, among others. This raised suspicions that he intended to poison patients.
ISIS ideology is rooted in a radical interpretation of Sunni Islam, and it aims to establish a caliphate governed by strict Sharia law.
ISIS has tried to recruit members in Israel, particularly targeting disaffected individuals among the Arab-Israeli population and Palestinian Authority Arabs. The group has used online platforms to spread its ideology and recruit supporters.
