Israel Officially Outlaws the Islamist State as ‘Unauthorized Organization’
An armoured vehicle belonging to Iraqi security forces is in flames after hundreds of militants from the Islamic State launched a major assault on the security forces in Mosul. Image by Getty Images
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon officially outlawed the Islamic State jihadist group.
Yaalon signed a statement Wednesday designating IS as an “unauthorized organization.”
He also signed a statement outlawing the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades, a Sunni jihadist group linked to al-Qaida.
An unauthorized organization is a group of people that “suggests, incites or encourages” terrorism against Israel. The statement allows Israel to seize the assets of such an organization, as well as to stop it from meeting, recruiting or fundraising.
The move comes a day after the Islamic State released a video on the internet showing the beheading of Jewish-American journalist Steven Sotloff.
Israel reportedly believes it could discover an IS cell in the West Bank.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
