If you have been watching news reports over the past two weeks of Israel Police activity in the eastern and northern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem, you will be aware that there has been speculation about what’s behind it.
This morning, the eve of Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year), reports are emerging of a major security breakthrough. As Israel National News has said in the past hour
Six Jerusalem Arabs have been indicted for allegedly working to establish a cell of the ISIS terror organization inside Israel. The six were charged in a Jerusalem court of security offenses, assisting an enemy in war-time, and association with a terror group. The suspects are residents of the Shuafat and Anata neighborhoods.
According to the indictment, from 2015 until August 2016, the suspects made efforts to enlist in ISIS and establish an ISIS cell inside Israel. Among other activities, the six organized study sessions to spread the terror group’s radical ideology. [They] reportedly planned terror attacks against Jews in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Haaretz says
The Jerusalem District Prosecution, which filed the indictments, claims that the some of the suspects attempted to leave Israel to join Islamic State in Syria, and also planned to carry out attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The six suspects also established a study group to memorize ISIS’ ideology, according to the prosecution. In August, five Israeli Arab men from the north were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two-and-a-half to six years for attempting to join ISIS.
There’s more coming. We will update this during the day.
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