Israel charges convert to Islam with Daesh ties

JERUSALEM: Israeli prosecutors filed charges Wednesday against a Belarus-born immigrant accused of seeking to join Daesh in Syria, security and justice sources said.
Valentin Mazlevski, 39, who immigrated to Israel in 1996, is the first Jewish-born Israeli to be charged for having Daesh ties, according to the Shin Bet domestic security service.
He was arrested in February, a few weeks after a failed attempt to fly from Israel to Turkey, from where he allegedly planned to cross into Syria to join Daesh forces, according to the indictment released by the Justice Ministry.
In 2000, while performing compulsory service in the Israeli military, Mazlevski converted to Islam after meeting the Israeli Arab Muslim woman who would become his wife and mother of his five children.
According to the charge sheet, Mazlevski had recently become interested in Daesh and frequently viewed its online content.
He is accused of joining Daesh Internet forums, and in July 2016 Israeli security forces warned him against taking part in Daesh activities.
Paying no heed, Mazlevski allegedly made contact with militants and planned on joining Daesh fighters in Syria and later in Sinai, though both plans failed to materialize.
On Jan. 16 he was prevented from boarding a plane to Turkey with a one-way ticket, and arrested the next month, according to the indictment.
He was charged at the Nazareth District Court with being in contact with Daesh, attempting to travel to an enemy state, and obstruction of justice. Israel added Daesh to its list of terrorist organizations in October 2015.
The Shin Bet said Daesh was creating a false impression that life under its rule was good, and that joining its fighting forces would be a “religious and military adventure.”
The Shin Bet said it considered Daesh supporters in Israel “a severe security threat.”
Also on Wednesday, the court administration said the Jerusalem District Court had sentenced Muaad Abed Rabbo, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem, to four-and-a-half-years in prison over a failed 2015 attempt to enter Syria and join Daesh in 2015. It said he had pleaded to the charges in a plea-bargaining agreement.