The Northern District Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against Wassim Hutaba, 29, from the Arab village of Reina, for allegedly expressing support for ISIS on his Facebook page.
Hutaba had been warned by the Shin Bet in December not to engage in anything which might harm the security of the State of Israel, including supporting ISIS. Nevertheless, he continued to go onto ISIS web pages, read ISIS publications, and watch videos of ISIS carrying out attacks and liaised with ISIS recruiters and supporters both in Israel and abroad.
His Facebook pictures of the ISIS flag flying over the Temple Mount and a map of the world received a lot of likes and shares.
Hutaba announced that he doesn't believe that he is beholden to the laws of the State of Israel – which he calls a “kufar state” – and justified ISIS attacks around the world, calling them “legitimate responses to Western attacks on Islam.”
Hutaba is the first Israeli Arab who was indicted for supporting ISIS despite not going to Syria, not leaving Israel, and not pledging allegiance to ISIS.
He said he didn’t pledge allegiance to the terror group because of his wife's concern that he would be arrested, and other negative ramifications on his family. Those are the same reasons he decided against carrying out an attack in Israel.
Hutaba's defense claims that what Hutaba wrote on Facebook is religious and not connected to ISIS.