Six East Jerusalem residents charged with supporting ISIS, planning attacks
Two members of the group planned to attack Israeli government buildings in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; one member preached to the others that all infidels, Jews, Crusaders, and Arabs that don't follow ISIS must be destroyed.
Six residents of Shuafat and 'Anata in East Jerusalem were indicted on Sunday for supporting ISIS. Some of them were also charged with trying to join the terror organization's ranks in Syria and with planning terror attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
According to the indictment, which was filed by the Jerusalem District Attorney, during 2015 and until August 2016, the defendants worked both together and separately to support and join ISIS. They allegedly established a study group ("halaqah") that met several times every week to learn the terror organization's ideology.
During these study meetings, the members of the halaqah watched ISIS videos, including speeches by leaders of the terror group, reenactments of battles, acts of murder and reports from ISIS claiming to have taken over different areas.
ISIS fighters in Mosul (Photo: AP/File)
Ahmad Shweiki, one of the defendants, preached to the participants that they must destroy infidels, Jews, Crusaders and Arabs who don't follow the laws of the Islamic State. He instructed the members to cut their hair and grow their beards the way ISIS fighters do, as well as fold the ends of their pants legs as ISIS fighters do.
According to the indictment, two of the defendants—Amr al-Bayah and Mohammed Hamid from Shuafat—met after they both failed to leave Israel for Syria to join ISIS. Al-Bayah allegedly said in that meeting that he plans on carrying out an attack against Jews in Israel, and Hamid accepted the former's offer to join him.
After realizing they would not be able to purchase a Kalashnikov (AK-47) rifle, al-Bayah told Hamid that he could buy a shipping container where they could prepare explosives to be used in a bombing they were planning at Kiryat HaMemshala (a complex of government buildings) in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv.
Kiryat HaMemshala in Tel Aviv - one of the intended targets (Photo: Yaron Brener)
Hamid suggested they carry out a bombing near the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, but al-Bayah said he preferred to attack the government buildings.
Until his arrest, Hamid managed to save NIS 1,000 for the purpose of buying weapons. When he heard that police forces were on their way to his home to arrest him, he erased all of the content from his cellphone so police would not see the ISIS-related content he had on it.
Another defendant, 24-year-old Saad 'Alamein, allegedly tried to recruit Yusef al-Sheikh 'Amr, 29, for terror activity. 'Alamein was at the time working at a construction site in Rishon Lezion, where he found a box with old army uniforms. The two decided to use the uniforms for training, shooting attacks, and kidnappings they had planned, all inspired by ISIS.
