Three Israeli Arabs feared to have joined Islamic State in Syria

Israeli authorities received a report on Sunday from a man from the Galilee town of Yafia who traveled with three of his friends to Turkey for holiday.

By NOAM AMIR
An Islamic State terrorist holds a flag with the group's insignia. (photo credit: REUTERS)
An Islamic State terrorist holds a flag with the group's insignia.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A day after an Israeli Arab youngster was reported killed in western Iraq while fighting for Islamic State, three more Israeli Arab youths are suspected of defecting to Syria in order to enlist in the cause of extremist jihadist organization.
Israeli authorities received a report on Sunday from a man from the Galilee town of Yafia who traveled with three of his friends to Turkey for holiday.
According to the man, the other three abandoned him and headed for the Turkish border with Syria. Since their departure, he has not been able to get in contact with them.
One of the families of the unaccounted for Israelis filed a missing persons report with the police. Investigators thus far are unable to determine definitively if the three men did indeed enlist in Islamic State.
The fate of the three men was the main topic of discussion among the locals in Yafia, which lies just outside of Nazareth in the Lower Galilee.
“We haven’t heard anything from them since they disappeared,” said the uncle of one of the missing men. “We’re very worried.”
The uncle said that the family has appealed to help from Israeli Arab lawmakers in order to determine their fate.
“We won’t have any information as to whether they joined Islamic State but we do understand that they apparently ended up in Syria,” a police source said. “The Shin Bet is also involved in this matter.”