Counter-Terrorism: The Enemy Within Israel

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July 20, 2010:  In the last few weeks, sixteen Israeli Arabs have been accused of terrorism, or providing assistance to Islamic terrorists. This treason by Israeli Arabs is an increasing problem. Some 20 percent of Israeli citizens are Arabs. Not all are Moslem. About 12 percent of Israeli Arabs are Christian, and eight percent are Druze (an Islamic sect that is considered a heresy by most Moslems.) The Druze are so hated by Moslems (and traditionally persecuted by them) that the Druze are the only Israeli Arabs subject to conscription. Other Israeli Arabs can volunteer, and a few do (after being carefully screened). Despite that, one of the Israeli Arabs recently arrested was a career army NCO, who worked on vehicle maintenance in a northern Israel army base. He provided the names of seven local Israeli Arab civilians who, like he, were also working for a drug smuggling gang. What was most troublesome about this was that the drug gang was known to work with Islamic terror group Hezbollah, which controls most of southern Lebanon.

The NCO provided information on which border posts were having problems with their surveillance equipment, or other gear, and what the patrol schedules were. The drug gangs bring their stuff in from Lebanon, where Hezbollah has to be paid off. Information on the Israeli military is very valuable, and it's believed that Hezbollah was getting what the Israeli sergeant was passing on to the drug gang. The Israeli NCO said he did it for the money. Hezbollah has had increasing success getting Israelis, usually Israeli Arabs, to spy for them for cash.

Eight of the Israeli Arabs arrested were directly involved in Islamic terrorism. Several of them were charged with murdering three Israeli Jews last year. The eight were also involved in buying, selling and smuggling illegal firearms, and seeking to obtain explosives for terror attacks. Several of these men traveled overseas a lot, and it was their trips to Ethiopia and Kenya which put them under investigation.

While Israeli Jewish gangsters stay away from terrorism, the Israeli Arab criminals use their ethnic ties, and knowledge of Arabic, to work with gangsters in neighboring Arab states. These gangs are more willing to work with Islamic terrorists, especially in Lebanon and Syria (where Islamic terrorism is, for all practical purposes, legal).

 

 

 

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