Arab Israeli who glided into Syria to join Islamic State jailed for 3.5 years

An Arab Israeli man who crossed into Syria on a hang glider in 2015 in order to join the Islamic State terror group was convicted and sentenced in an Israeli court on Thursday.

Nidal Salah, a 26-year-old resident of the central town of Jaljulia, was sentenced to 43 months in prison by the Central District Court as part of a plea deal.

Salah was convicted on charges of contacting a foreign agent, illegally leaving the country, membership in a terror organization, sending information to an enemy, and other offenses.

In the summer of 2015, Salah, then 23, along with another Arab Israeli man, Hossam Hajalah, decided to join the Islamic State group fighting in Syria.

After gliding into Syria, he was arrested and “brutally interrogated” by IS operatives, who forced him to convey information about Israel, according to the court.

He was later released and officially joined IS, for whom he worked in a factory, producing surveillance and attack drones. The court said he also took part in fighting for the jihadist group and was asked to recruit more Arab Israelis to its ranks.

Salah was later taken captive by the Syrian government during a battle but was able to flee, and was smuggled into Turkey in May 2018. He returned to Israel in June on a flight from Turkey and was arrested upon arrival.

The court said it had agreed to a plea deal because of Salah’s confession, expression of remorse, and the “exceptional circumstances” of his captivity by IS.

In the months before he glided to Syria, Salah, who came from a family that was not particularly religious, had become enthralled with the doctrine and ideology of IS.

“His personality changed,” his brother Samih told AFP in 2015. “He banned listening to music, and would only listen to (recordings of) the Koran.”

Salah and Hajalah practiced using the engine-powered hang gliders for several months before they felt prepared to make the journey.

However, when they first tried to fly to Syria from the Golan Heights in mid-October 2015, Hajalah’s hang-glider sustained a “technical malfunction,” according to the indictment filed against Salah.

So instead, on October 24, Salah set out by himself to the Golan Heights again in order to fly into Syria alone.

Source: TOI