An Israeli Arab who joined the Islamic State and was seriously wounded in Iraq in a coalition airstrike was indicted at the Nazareth District Court on Sunday.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Maharan Yussuf Khaladi, 19, from Nazareth, was arrested upon his return to Israel in a joint operation by the Shin Bet and Israel Police on January 10 at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

Khaladi said in his investigation that he left for Turkey last year after being exposed to Islamic State content on the internet and contacting an IS operative on Facebook.

Maharan Yussuf Khaladi

He crossed the border into Syria in October 2014 aided by an IS smuggler and headed to a reception and sorting base there, where he met three other Israeli Arabs from Yafa an-Naseriyye: Muhammad Maruan Kilani, Muhammad Sabr Kananeh and Hamza Sami Sari Magamseh , the last of which has since returned to Israel and charged with contacting a foreign agent, membership in an illegal organization, conspiracy to commit a crime and illegal exit.

After three weeks at the IS camp, where Khaladi underwent physical training, theoretical classes on weaponry and did guard duty. He then received his posting and was sent to Iraq to a base in the Fallujah area, where he learned how to operate weapons and sent to join the fighting.

He participated in five battles in the Fallujah area. During the fifth battle, in which he was planting explosives to use against Shi'ite forces, carried arms and dug hiding places, he was seriously wounded - likely during an airstrike by the US-led coalition.

He was evacuated to a hospital in Fallujah and after three weeks of recovery he received authorization to return to Syria to see his family.

Khaladi was indicted at the Nazareth District Court on Sunday on charges of contacting a foreign agent, membership in an illegal organization, undergoing military training and illegal exit.

Khaladi's attorney, Hassin Abu Hassin, said the defendant admitted to have been to Syria and Iraq, "but in a level-headed decision and willingly he decided to return to Israel when he was seriously wounded, after he was humiliated in an Iraq hospital for three weeks."

The attorney went on to say that "the difference between him and those who went before September 2014 is that in December 2014, the government declared the Islamic State an illegal organization. This still doesn't make these offenses to crimes against Israel's security. My client had nothing to do with the state's security, so all of the offenses attributed to him are baseless."

Khaladi, his attorney said, "regrets going there. The fact he returned and crossed the border and paid off smugglers to return says it all."

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Khalidi's case is "another evidence to the dangerous radicalization Israeli Arabs go through, a radicalization that originates in incitement by the leaders of the sectors."

He noted that "the state of Israel must deal with the issue thoroughly and without compromise, starting with the incitement in mosques and by MKs."