BREAKING NEWS

Court convicts Health Ministry worker of joining ISIS in a plea bargain

Jerusalem District Court Judge David Mintz on Wednesday convicted public servant Halil Halil of joining ISIS as part of a plea bargain.
Sentencing arguments in Halil’s case are set for November 25.
Halil, who was a Health Ministry worker in his capacity working at the Eitanim Hospital, used some of his benefits as a public servant in November 2014 to help buy tickets for flights to Athens, Istanbul and Edna, a city on the Turkish-Syrian border, as part of an effort to cross into Syria and join ISIS.
Halil successfully made contact with ISIS and carried out several actions to prepare for crossing the Turkish-Syrian border on foot with other new ISIS volunteers.
However, he and some of the others were caught by Turkey’s border patrol in January 2015.
He was arrested upon being returned to Israel and indicted in March on charges of joining ISIS, attempted contact with a foreign agent and leaving the country illegally.
Halil’s case is rare as most Israeli-Arabs who have joined ISIS have not been public servants.