This ex-Israeli soldier allegedly tried to join ISIS in Syria

Channel 10/screenshot

A Belarusian-Israeli man was arrested as he attempted to join the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria, after expressing support for the group over the past year and a half, according to an indictment filed against him on Wednesday.

The suspect, Valentin Vladmir Mazlevski, was arrested in a joint operation by police and the Shin Bet security service earlier this month, though details of the case were kept under a court-issued gag order until the charges were filed.

As he was brought into the courtroom, Mazlevski told reporters in poor, heavily accented Arabic that “God will vindicate me.”

According to the indictment, he purchased a one-way ticket to Turkey in January, with the goal of crossing the border into Syria and joining the terrorist group.

He is from the Arab Israeli town of Shibli–Umm al-Ghanam, his wife’s hometown. The 39-year-old father of five moved to Israel from Belarus in 1996 at age 18 and converted to Islam four years later, while he was serving in the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet said.

“The investigation revealed that Mazlevski, who was active in IS-supporting groups on the internet, shared details of his intentions to travel to Syria and even coordinated his arrival with [the groups],” the Shin Bet said.

Mazlevski allegedly used a number of methods to communicate with fellow Islamic State supporters, including the Telegram encrypted messaging application.

According to police, the suspect was in contact with Sheikh Assad al-Tawhid, also known as Abu Huthaifah, who previously fought in Syria.

Police were aware of Mazlevski’s support for the Islamic State since at least July 2016. That month he was brought in for a “debriefing, in which it was clarified to him that the Islamic State is an illegal organization and that he has been ordered to stop his security activities.”

Reuters via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Despite the police warning, Mazlevski began looking into joining the fighting in Syria in October 2016. He contacted a purported Islamic State fighter in Syria who identified himself as “Abu Abdullah.” But before he could set out, Abu Abdullah broke off contact and scuttled Mazlevski’s plans, according to police.

A month later, he reached out to an alleged Islamic State member in the Sinai Peninsula and considered joining the fight against Egyptian troops there, police said.

Apparently undeterred, Mazlevski contacted a Russian-born IS fighter in Syria in January and began making preparations to travel there through Turkey, according to the indictment.

He purchased his plane ticket to Turkey and saved NIS 3,650 ($1,000) ahead of his trip.

Mazlevski never told his family of his plans to travel to Syria, according to police.

On January 16, 2017, he went to Ben Gurion International Airport to catch his flight to Turkey, but was stopped at the gate and prevented from traveling. The Shin Bet said it had received advanced intelligence about Mazlevski’s plans.

He was interrogated, but not arrested, at the airport. In the days that followed, Mazlevski attempted to remove any trace of Islamic State support from his cellphone, deleting accounts and conversations, according to the indictment.

Mazlevski was arrested on February 7. During his interrogation, he admitted to investigators that he had planned to join the Islamic State in order to “fulfill the commandment placed on every true Muslim to live under an Islamic State and hold fast to his belief,” police said.

The Shin Bet estimates that approximately 50 Arab citizens of Israel have traveled to Syria or Iraq to join the group in recent years.

“The Shin Bet sees the phenomenon of Israelis traveling to Syria and Iraq as most dangerous,” the agency said.

The security service said many of those people were lured to the Islamic State with lies and promises of “religious and military adventure,” but have been deeply disappointed by the reality.

“Interrogations of Israelis who returned from Syria and Iraq paint the opposite picture, of harsh living conditions and life under constant threat,” the Shin Bet said.

On Wednesday, Mazlevski was charged in the Nazareth District Court with contacting a foreign agent, attempting to travel to an enemy nation and obstruction of justice, for deleting the information from his phone.

The state prosecutor requested Mazlevski be kept in police custody until the end of his trial.

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