Arab Israeli indicted for attempting to join IS in Syria

An Arab Israeli from east Jerusalem was arrested earlier this month and indicted Monday for attempting to join the Islamic State (IS) militant group, the Israeli Shin Bet security agency announced in a statement.

The security agency said that Halil Adal Halil, 25, from east Jerusalem's A-Tur neighborhood, was arrested on March 1. Prior to his alleged travel to Syria and attempt to join ISIS, he worked as a medical assistant in a psychiatric hospital near Jerusalem.

Halil was indicted on charges of attempting to join an illegal organization, contacting a foreign agent and illegally leaving the state.

The suspect admitted that he planned to joined IS in 2014 after watching the group's propaganda video, along with an associate named Muhammad Sami al-Aziz Abu Snina, the Shin Bet added in its statement.

Halil told relatives last year that he is going on vacation and then on a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy Muslim town in Saudi Arabia. He flew to Greece and then to Turkey two months ago in order to cover his tracks.

The Shin Bet charges that after reaching Turkey, Halil and Abu Snina contacted an IS operative, who directed them to reach a southern Turkish town along the Syrian border.

Following the tip, the two arrived at a house where other international enlistees stayed, managing to cross into Syria. Several weeks afterwards Halil returned to Israel and was arrested by the Shin Bet.

Seven Arab Israelis from northern Israel were indicted in January over charges of attempting to join the IS and establish a cell of the group in Israel, the Shin Bet said.

Muhammad Musallem, 19, an Arab Israeli from east Jerusalem who joined the IS last year, was executed by the group, according to a video published earlier this month. His father denied the group's claims that Musallem was an Israeli spy agent.

Israeli authorities have outlawed any links with the IS group last year. Endit