Arab Israeli Paraglides to Syria, Allegedly to Join Rebel Fighters

Israel said on Sunday that one of its citizens, probably a member of the country’s Muslim Arab minority, had illegally flown to rebellion-wracked Syria by using a paraglider to cross the Golan Heights frontier.

“Those who violate their loyalty to the state and endanger its security must be treated harshly”, says Shalom.

The 23-year-old man, from the central Israeli town of Jaljulya, crossed the border with the intention of joining an al-Qaeda affiliated terror group.

A statement released prior to Ya’alon’s departure Sunday evening defined the visit as “of utmost importance”, with the two defense chiefs slated to discuss Israeli security needs and continued USA military aid for the coming decade.

A large IDF force was deployed to the area, and several units were said to have infiltrated a short distance into Syria in order to identify the Israeli and bring him home.

Several dozen Israeli Arabs have joined ISIS ranks in recent months, Israeli authorities say, with a few killed in fighting.

Israel’s Army Radio said the man flew eastward against the prevailing wind, an indication he went deliberately and was not blown into Syria by accident.

The paraglider had come down either in Syria’s Quneitra province, which includes the Golan Heights, or in the neighbouring Deraa province, a Syrian rebel whose group operates in the area, told Reuters news agency. The IDF said it appeared the man was “picked up” by someone on the other side of the border after he landed.

Its citizens are banned from travelling there, but a small number of Israeli Arab citizens are understood to have gone to fight in Syria nonetheless – though few arrive by air. “We will act to nullify his citizenship”.