From the field of "weeds" to the heart of cities: the destructive ideology of ISIS among Israeli Arabs

The organization's efforts to drive a significant stake among Arab society in Israel or the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have not really succeeded.

Still, even from his days of activity in Iraq, tiny buds of sympathy have been seen.

Despite the last two terrorist attacks, Hamas and Islamic Jihad denouncing it are refraining from joining the celebration

Avi Issacharoff

28/03/2022

Monday, 28 March 2022, 11:27 Updated: 11:47

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In the video: Documentation of the shooting attack in Hadera (Photo: Shlomi Gabay, Yoav Itiel, spokeswoman for the Israel Police and documentation on social networks according to section 27A of the Copyright Law)

The proximity of the last two deadly attacks, in Be'er Sheva and Hadera yesterday (Sunday), may create the impression that the ideology of ISIS (Islamic State) and its presence among "internal" Arabs, or '48 Arabs, are a new phenomenon.

But this is a completely wrong impression.

On the face of it, the organization has failed to put an impressive stake in Arab-Israeli or Palestinian public opinion in the West Bank and Gaza.

And yet, the presence of "weeds" or small cells that support ISIS, was in fact already in the first years of its activities in Iraq and Syria.

Only among the Bedouin in the Negev, more than a hundred years ago, close to a hundred Israeli citizens who were considered "supporters of ISIS" were identified, at least at the ideological level.

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The attack in Hadera - step by step (Photo: Yoav Itiel, TPS Tzuria Zeevi, Flash 90)

In one of the most prominent cases, a Bedouin doctor from the Negev named Othman Abu al-Qi'an, who left Israeli territory and left for Syria, joined the organization.

An equally significant example was recorded in the town of Hura, where a network of ISIS-supporting teachers, who taught at the Salam (Shalom) school in the council, was arrested.

An investigation of the incident revealed at the time that the southern network of Bedouin teachers was ideologically influenced by teachers who came from Arab localities in the north, such as Umm al-Fahm.

If this sounds familiar to anyone, then just this week we saw how an ISIS-backed terrorist from the Hura settlement of the Abu al-Qi'an family, carrying out an attack in Be'er Sheva and two other ISIS supporters from Umm al-Fahm, carried out the attack in Hadera.

Another extreme case that was exposed in Walla !, took place in Fureidis in the north, so an Arab who enlisted in the IDF and served for several months in the Givati ​​Brigade as a fighter, defected from the IDF, left Israel and joined ISIS in Syria.

And perhaps what should be of most concern is the fact that in just one week, ISIS or its affiliates are actually able to carry out attacks within Israeli territory, while in other arenas the organization is failing to register significant successes.

When the Israeli Prison Service wanted to treat Palestinian ISIS prisoners, they would put them in Hamas wings where they had to undergo "re-education."

It did not always work that way it turns out.

Israeli Arabs shake off in disgust.

The scene of the attack in Hadera, yesterday (Photo: Official website, Gili Yaari / Flash 90)

And despite all this, it should be remembered that this is still a fringe.

Despite the widespread outcry from opposition figures, including a provocative MK who waited patiently in a live ambush, and even a famous football player who clearly understands a little more about football than security issues, this is not a widespread phenomenon.

ISIS's ideology fails to garner widespread support among Israeli Arabs and these are individual actions.

The vast majority of Arab citizens of Israel despise ISIS and its ideology and reject it with disgust.

This may sound puzzling, but even Palestinian extremist organizations like Hamas and Islamic Jihad are physically fighting ISIS supporters in Gaza and trying to erase all their presence.

This may make it possible to understand how on the eve of Ramadan, Hamas and jihad may be cheering for the perpetrators of the attacks, but at this stage they are still careful not to join the "celebration".

The relative calm in the West Bank has also been maintained, and the Hamas-controlled Gaza is operating in exemplary silence, which we hope will also be maintained against the background of "Earth Day" events.

And of course the attack in Hadera cannot be cut off from what is happening in the political arena.

Extremist Palestinian elements are trying, and may even succeed, in disrupting the "Sde Boker effect," a rare event in itself and a huge political success.

It is no wonder that those who rushed to take advantage of the attack yesterday to achieve maximum media effect were Itamar Ben Gvir and his friends.

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