Israel indicts couple on charge of joining IS in Iraq with 3 children

Israeli authorities on Thursday indicted a couple on a charge of joining the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq, along with their three children, in 2015.

The defendants, Wisam Zabeida, 41, and his wife, Sabrin Zabeidat, 30, are are Arab Israelis.

According to Haifa's District Attorney's Office, they were arrested upon their arrival at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Sept. 22.

A police statement said the investigation revealed that Sabrin initiated the contact with an IS operative, who informed her how to join the militant group, after which she convinced her spouse to join IS as well.

A year ago, the couple traveled to Turkey and crossed into Syria, where they swore allegiance to the IS, according to the police.

They then moved to Mosul, Iraq, where Wisam received a Kalashnikov rifle and joined fighting in the area, said the police.

"In the wake of heavy shelling by U.S. fighter jets in Mosul and pressures by their families to return to Israel, the suspects and their children began an eight-month journey to the Turkish-Syrian border," a separate statement by the Shin Bet security service said.

"They tried to infiltrate into Turkey 10 times, without success. When they finally managed to infiltrate into Turkey, they were arrested by local police and transferred to Israel," the statement read.

They were charged with membership in an outlawed organization, contacting a foreign agent, and illegally exiting the country.

The children were removed from their parent's care and placed with their parents' family, the police said.

In recent years, dozens of Arab Israelis were arrested and underwent legal proceedings over suspicions of crossing into Syria, or planning to, in order to join the IS.

Israel outlawed any affiliation with IS in 2015. Endit