DISINFO: ISIS never attacks Israel, nor the other way round
SUMMARY
Why does ISIS never attack the state of Israel, or the other way round? This is weird. Since the Islamic State emerged in 2006 and started a global crusade with terror attacks all over the world, it seems that it did not employ too much effort in harassing Israel. It is striking that the state entity most hated in the Muslim world has been practically ignored or avoided by those who proclaim themselves as the most radical and violent Islamists in the world.
Does this mean that the state of Israel created, encouraged or cooperated somehow in the creation of ISIS? It would be reckless to give an unequivocal answer to this question, either positively or negatively, since benefiting from a crime is not necessarily an evidence of being the author. But geopolitics is full of incontrovertible facts, but also of hints and appearances, so it can’t be addressed exclusively with irrefutable evidence but also with a good dose of intuition and hypothesis.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory.
Only since October 2023, Israel has thwarted several Islamic State-related terrorist plots, at least 9 according to jihadist terrorism expert Aaron Y. Zelin. The Islamic State organisation attacked Israel from Sinai in several occasions, notably in 2015 and 2017. In March 2024, the Islamic State spokesperson called its supporters to carry out attacks against Israel, among other objectives. Israel also attacked Islamic State bases and militants in 2015 and 2018, carrying out dozens of covert airstrikes.
By pushing these baseless allegations, this disinformation story aims to promote a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about jihadist terrorism being a tool of the West and Israel. Pro-Kremlin media actively pushed this narrative again after the Crocus City Hall terror attack in Moscow in March 2024, as part of a wider disinformation campaign to blame Ukraine and the West.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the US and Israel created ISIS and now moved this pawn against Russia in Crocus City attack, that the US and Israel might be behind the terror attack in Kerman, that the US and Zionists support terrorism and increase the terrorist threat to global security, or that ISIS has been a useful tool of Israel and the US to keep Syria in chaos.