Kamel Abu Amara
Photo: Motti Kimchi
The Tel Aviv district prosecution filed an indictment to the city’s District Court on Wednesday against Kamel Abu Amara, 19, from Jaffa, for establishing contact with a foreign agent and for membership of, and activity with, the ISIS terror organization.
According to the indictment, Amara was in extensive contact with supporters and members of the organization and joined of his own volition by sending an oath of allegiance video to the group. He also acted on behalf of the organization to promote its goals and recruit more supporters.
The indictment, filed by attorney Oren Paz, said that the defendant joined a number of groups, including the “Islamic State” in which people outside of Israel proclaimed their affiliation with, or expressed their support for, the terror group.
The members of the various groups also distributed content supporting ISIS activity, while the defendant participated in the discourse and consumed the distributed content.
Amara also established contact with one individual known as Abu Matza’ab, who presented himself as a Romanian citizen who supported the organization.
The two discussed support for ISIS, devoting significant attention to waging Jihad in “Palestine” and its “liberation”, while the defendant told him that in the past he was investigated by the Shin Bet over his support for ISIS.
Amara and Abu Matza’ab created a new group of supporters and worked to recruit more members to the terror group’s ranks.
Later on, the defendant established contact with a man known as Dabik, who presented himself as a Moroccan citizen and an ISIS fighter, the indictment notes. He told Amara he was on his way to Afghanistan to join his comrades in ISIS in the fighting.
Ramchan Abu Amara, the defendant’s father, told Ynet that his son simply enjoyed playing computer games, and accused the Israeli security services of entrapment and of turning him into a terrorist.
“He is a 19-year-old boy who played games on the Xbox. I am not an expert in computers, but there is a game of wars between countries—Israel, America, ISIS and rebels on the internet and they speak to each other,” the father said. “A man from the Shin Bet came on and spoke to him and incriminated him. They made him a terrorist.”