The Shin Bet security agency and the Israel Police have arrested a 27-year-old resident of the northern Israeli Arab city of Taibe on suspicion of supporting the Islamic State group and plotting to carry out an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack, security forces reported Monday.
A Shin Bet investigation discovered that Hassan Khaled Taher Sheikh Yusuf began strengthening in his religious beliefs in 2014.
He began reading about Islamic State on the internet and considered traveling to Syria to join the group.
He also watched instructional videos on how to build explosive devices and tried to persuade an acquaintance to buy him an assault rifle.
In the summer of 2017, as protests broke out on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem over the government's decision to install metal detectors following the murder of two border policemen there, Sheikh Yusuf reportedly tried to persuade others to help him carry out several terrorist attacks, including a shooting in Jerusalem; a car bombing in front of the Kedma police station, in an area connecting three Arab cities in northern Israel known as the Triangle; and a stabbing attack.
The Shin Bet reported that everyone Sheikh Yusuf contacted refused to help him, which spoiled his plans, as he was afraid to commit the attacks on his own.
An official from the Central District Prosecutor's Office was present during his questioning. On Sunday, Sheikh Yusuf was indicted for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts.
