An Israeli man has been arrested for allegedly trying to join the ranks of the Islamic State in Syria, the Israel Securities Authority announced on Wednesday.
Valentin Vladimir Mazalewski, a 40-year-old Belarus-born father of five from the Arab town of Shibli in northern Israel, allegedly bought a one-way ticket to Turkey so he could cross the border to Syria and join the jihadist group, security officials said in a statement.
The suspect contacted various Russian ISIS operatives in January using the Telegram app, in a group called the Caliphate, according to the indictment. The operatives reportedly taught him how to coordinate and plan his trip to Syria.
He was arrested Tuesday and charged Wednesday in the district court of Nazareth.
Mazalewski immigrated to Israel from Belarus in 1996. According to ISA, he converted to Islam in 2000 after meeting his current spouse, an Israeli Arab from Shibli, during his army service.
In their statement, the ISA described Israeli citizens leaving the country to join the ISIS ranks in Iraq and Syria as a “dangerous phenomenon.”
