ISIS in service of Zionist regime
Contrary to what has been said in the media, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) did not appear in 2012 or 2013. Its history goes back to the beginning of the 21st century. What this article intends to prove is that, contrary to what the leaders and media organs of this seemingly Islamic group show, ISIS is entirely in service to the interests of the United States and especially the Zionist regime in the region.
Regarding the American nature of this group, as well as other Takfiri groups in the region, numerous documents have been presented by American officials, some of which are briefly mentioned below.
Daniel McAdams, president of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity in the US, stated in an interview, “The United States has helped the growth of ISIS for tactical, not ideological, reasons. The US has bolstered ISIS to destabilize Syria, as the country wanted to overthrow Bashar Assad.”
Donald Trump, the then-president of the United States, accused the Obama administration of actively supporting extremist groups that later became ISIS. Trump repeatedly stated, “I want to say that Hillary Clinton is also one of the founders of ISIS.” Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president, also stated that Obama and Clinton’s policies led to the creation of ISIS.
However, the main focus of this article is a documentary and analytical examination of the connection between the Takfiri and terrorist group ISIS and the Zionist regime. ISIS’s actions in the past and especially in the current period (i.e., after Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Storm) have entirely served the media interests and military interests of the Zionist regime.
Regarding media interests, the Zionist regime, which is battling the Hamas organization, has committed numerous horrific crimes against the oppressed people of Gaza. Consequently, the international reputation and legitimacy of the regime have been shaken in an unprecedented fashion. For this reason, the regime needs to utilize the ISIS brand in the media to reverse the negative ongoing trend in its favor and to consolidate relations with its own society, “Jews worldwide,” and even “the Islamic world”. It also aims to secularize the Islamic world. ISIS’s current attacks on Jews and Christians worldwide follow this trend. The article will mention cases that facilitate these interests.
In terms of the military interests of the Zionist regime, it should be emphasized that almost the entirety of ISIS’s existence, from a theoretical and practical perspective, especially in the current period, has served the Zionist regime. Prioritizing the fight against apostates and polytheists over the followers of Abrahamic religions, prioritizing the distant enemy over the near enemy, directly fighting the jihadist organizations, and making the environment unsafe for anti-Zionist demonstrations all originate from ‘Wahhabism’ and are aimed at strengthening and expanding the Zionist regime’s military interests in the Gaza war. Further evidence and more detailed explanations will be provided later in the article.
A mutually beneficial tie
The Zionist regime has directly and indirectly supported ISIS at various times, which has repeatedly been reciprocated by the terrorist group.
The following media attitudes reveal that ISIS serves the Zionist regime and the Zionist regime benefits from the ISIS brand — details will follow in the next section:
1. ISIS’s avoidance of using the term Zionism
2. ISIS’s attacks on Jews and Christians at this time
3. ISIS’s press reaction to the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm by Hamas
The following actions also prove ISIS’s service to the Zionist regime:
1. ISIS’s enmity with the Islamic Resistance groups, laid bare by declaring organizations like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood as apostates and Hezbollah in Lebanon as polytheists
2. Executing Musa Abu Zamat by ISIS for smuggling weapons to Hamas
3. Creating insecurity for anti-Zionist demonstrations
4. Apologizing to the Zionist regime for mistakenly engaging with it in the Golan Heights!
In addition to the above points, the following points show the various ways the Zionist regime has supported ISIS:
1. Promotion of Wahhabism by Avichay Adraee, the spokesman for the Israeli army
2. Endorsing the ideology of Wahhabism, the core ideology of ISIS, by Mordechai Kedar, one of the extremist Zionist thinkers
3. Israel’s purchase of oil from ISIS, which financed the terrorist group
Tiptoeing around ‘Zionism,’
attacking Jews, Christians
Almost all the announcements issued by ISIS, especially at this period of time, use the term ‘Jews’ instead of using the word ‘Zionists’. Added to the facts that, on the one hand, ISIS has been attacking Jews and Christians and, on the other hand, Israel calls Hamas “ISIS”, one and only one sobering conclusion can be drawn: By conducting attacks on Jews and Christians of the world at this critical time, ISIS is trying to strengthen the weakened alliance between Jews, Christians, and Zionists.
When ISIS, on the one hand, pretends that it is carrying out these operations against innocent Jews and Christians in retaliation for the Israeli war on Gaza and, on the other hand, it constantly emphasizes enmity with ‘Judaism’ and ‘Christianity’ in its statements, the Jews and Christians of the world naturally become afraid. As a result, those who can once again seek refuge in the Zionist regime for their security, even if they are against Zionism and the actions of the Zionist regime.
This corresponds with a sociological theory that states external hostility towards a specific group leads to internal cohesion among the members of that group.
If ISIS really wanted to engage with the Zionist regime, it should have intervened in the Gaza war and entered into a war with the Zionists.
ISIS’s enmity with Hezbollah
The fact that ISIS calls all the forces that engaged in direct, armed combat with the Zionist regime — whether they be Sunni or Shia — apostates and polytheists is one of the most significant indicators that this terrorist organization is in the pocket of the Zionists. As it was discussed, Wahhabism also plays a role in this regard. Furthermore, not only does ISIS declare war on the aforementioned forces, but also actively engages in combat with them. Among such resistance groups is the Hezbollah movement of Lebanon.
It is no secret that in the last few decades, the Lebanese Hezbollah, which is one of the most important forces of the resistance, has had the most intense conflicts with the Zionist regime, but ISIS considers the organization to be a polytheist. To humiliate it, it frequently calls Hezbollah (literally translated as the party of Allah) as Hezb al-Shaytan (literally translated as the party of Satan). The documentation for this is given below.
In an audio message published by Al-Furqan, an ISIS media outlet, ISIS spokesperson Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari labeled Iranians and Shias as polytheists and Lebanon’s Hezbollah as the party of Satan and his alliance. Al-Ansari considers the alliance with Iran as the work of the Muslim Brotherhood and the cause of deviation and misguidance. He namely considers the Islamic Republic of Iran to be the cause of the deviation of the Mujahideen groups on the way to the liberation of Palestine. So, with false and baseless claims, he tried, in that message, to make Iran look bad in the eyes of the Mujahideen of the Islamic world.
In addition, in issue 386 of Al-Naba Weekly, which is affiliated with ISIS, Hezbollah is once again called the Hezb al-Shaytan. The article further claims that the goal of Hezbollah and Iran in fighting against Zionism is to put pressure on and harass Sunnis and other Muslims, insult their sacred items, and allow Shias to take control of Al-Quds (Jerusalem).
In response to these false claims, it suffices to mention that Iran has provided financial and meaningful aid not just to Hezbollah, but also to other Sunni groups such as Hamas and the the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement, all of which are fighting against Israel. These organizations have emphasized this fact at various times.
ISIS’s enmity with Hamas,
Muslim Brotherhood
In addition to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Sunni groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas have had intense conflicts with Israel. Hamas’s recent Operation Al-Aqsa Storm not only shattered the illusions of grandeur surrounding the Zionist regime and its military but also revealed its anti-human and terrorist nature in front of the free-thinking people of the world. However, ISIS is not only not supporting these Sunni groups, but calls them apostates — again influenced by its Wahhabi ideology. Our evidence for this claim is given below.
In another article, published by Al-Naba Weekly, it is claimed that Hamas believes in ruling based on tyrannical laws, writes blasphemies, communicates with apostates and tyrants such as Iran, fights against Mujahideen (i.e. Daesh), does not implement the teachings of Qur’an, and refrains from engaging in war with the “infidels” and instead, recognizes the Shias and cooperates with them. Therefore, it is concluded that Hamas is violating Islam and are apostates. These baseless and false claims are also based on the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.
In addition to the above, on page five of another article published by al-Azaim Media, affiliated with a Khorasan branch of ISIS, on the occasion of the war between Hamas and the Zionist regime, the conflict with the Jews “at this point in time and in this way” is considered “pointless”. The article employs sophistry and a harsh tone when referring to Hamas and says:
“Hamas is a movement based on thoughts of patriotism and democracy, and cultivated with the beliefs of the Brotherhood. Their fight against the Jews has only the color of patriotism and is not based on Sharia and ideological rules. Their leaders have admitted that their fight against the Jews is not because of the war against Judaism, but because Jews have occupied the land of Palestine, while the Muslim war against the Jews is a definite, religious, and ideological matter. Hamas does not implement many of the rules of the Quran and the Sunnah.
They even slander the enforcers of the Sharia law, especially those who enforce the rules of jizya and fight with the infidels, or enforce limits. Hamas considers the polytheists to be Muslims, they consider their religion to be true, and they accept them because of their main leaders, and they are always trying to get closer to them.”
ISIS has at various times considered the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a large longstanding Sunni organization, as an apostate group. For example, in a series of eight-part audio lectures, titled “Al-Ikhwan al-Murtadoon” (literally translated as The Brotherhood of the Apostates) on Radio Al-Bayan, affiliated with ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood group has been declared apostate. In issue 14 of the multilingual magazine Dabiq, also affiliated with ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood was also introduced as Al-Ikhwan al-Murtadoon, and a detailed article was written to prove the apostasy of this group.
It can be seen that all the groups that engage in direct battle with the Zionist regime are declared by ISIS, which is influenced by Wahhabi thinking, as either apostates or polytheists. On the other hand, based on the theory of the “near enemy and distant enemy” that ISIS put forward, the fight against the near enemies (that is, the apostates and polytheists, or Hamas and Hezbollah) precedes the fight against the distant enemies (the Zionists). For this reason, even at this point in time, ISIS is conflicting with Hamas and other groups involved with Israel. Now, the question is: isn’t this an obvious and valuable service to the Zionist regime?
Execution of Musa Abu Zamat
ISIS not only considers Hamas as apostates but executes anyone who helps the apostate — again influenced by Wahhabi thinking. Among other documents that clearly show that ISIS, from an operational point of view, has been at the service of the Zionists and serves their interests, is the release of a video, entitled “Mullah Ibrahim,” from the so-called Sinai province of this organization. In this video, the ISIS speaker claims that a person named Moussa Abu Zamat was sentenced to death for the crime of supplying weapons to “the apostate Hamas” and supporting “the apostate battalions of the Qassam Brigades,” Hamas’s armed wing. In a part of his speech, he says:
“The Sharia court of ISIS in Sinai Province has ordered the killing of apostates who have helped the polytheists in the war. This person, Musa Abu Zamat, was previously in the ranks of ISIS Mujahideen, but he helped the polytheists and provided weapons to apostates such as the Qassam Brigades.”
Reaction to Operation Al-Aqsa Storm
After Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Storm began on October 7, 2023, many Islamic and even non-Islamic countries supported Hamas and condemned the subsequent crimes committed by the Zionists. This effectively formed an international and Islamic coalition around the unity of the Islamic world and the rejection of Zionism in the region.
Even though almost all Islamic communities in the Middle East region as well as Western and Eastern politicians and officials took a negative stance against the actions of the Zionist regime and condemned its crimes — even if it was just to keep up the pretenses — the least reaction was observed from ISIS. This lack of reaction demonstrates that ISIS is acting against Hamas and in the interests of the Zionist regime.
For instance, in the first week after Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, ISIS did not show any reaction to the operation. However, ISIS supporters republished some old media content originating from this group that called Hamas apostate.
Eventually, to maintain appearances, ISIS reacted implicitly to the events of the Occupied Territories in its final editorial and infographic in the 412th issue of its al-Naba Weekly, which was published on Friday, October 21. In the editorial, ISIS implicitly referred to the sufferings of the people of Gaza and, in the form of religious discourse, demanded support for the afflicted Muslims.
Despite the situation, the ISIS group still could not hide its grudge against Hamas. By highlighting the need to help the people of Gaza in their plight, it criticized Hamas and the people of Gaza. For example, its Al-Battar Foundation tried to give advice in one of its infographics, and without mentioning names, invited the people of Gaza to endure suffering and hardship in the way of God and not in the way of the nation or the land. The same foundation, in another infographic titled “Which way are you walking?” stated that the sympathy of the nation of Muhammad with their brothers in Palestine is pleasing, and they are happy to kill and reject the Jews. But the question is, did these actions take place in the way of God and with the announcement of “the word Allah” or were they done to establish a civil and secular Palestinian government?
In fact, the positions taken by ISIS reveal that instead of defending Muslims against the Zionists with all its might, it has adopted a policy that both confirms the doubts about its cooperation with the Zionists and opposes Hamas and other resistance groups in order to weaken them.
After adopting these positions, ISIS has not taken the slightest action to show that it intends to harm the Zionists. Instead, with blind attacks on Jews and Christians of the world, it is trying to divert public opinion, which is now heavily against Zionism, from the incident in Gaza. The terrorist group is trying to switch the places of the oppressor and the oppressed, or, in other words, the executioner and the martyr. Furthermore, it plays into the hands of those who try to cast Muslims as terrorists. Of course, as stated, these actions are all aimed at re-legitimizing the Zionist regime in bombing the innocent people of Gaza.
The Zionist regime has also shown us another piece of the puzzle via its precise division of labor, and that pertains to its efforts at aligning ISIS with Hamas in the media and public opinion. When you combine the narratives that, on the one hand, ISIS is attacking innocent Jews and Christians all over the world and, on the other hand, the Zionist regime has entered into a war with Hamas, which is repeatedly labeled as similar to ISIS, it appears to the untrained eyes of the public opinion that the Zionist regime’s war with Hamas is, in fact, a war with a group like ISIS — a group that has no other goal than carrying out terrorist operations against innocent people around the world. Therefore, it is quite clear that the actions of ISIS in the last few months have not only not harmed the Zionist regime, but have completely been in service to the Zionist regime.
A note on ISIS ideology
In the previous section, we explored the media favors given to the Zionist regime by ISIS from behind cameras and computers. They were essentially aimed at inciting the Jews and Christians of the world and pushing them back towards Israel. However, in this section, we try to provide evidence that ISIS serves the Zionist regime from a military point of view as well.
But before fully exploring this position, it is necessary to mention the basis on which ISIS acts against the axis of resistance and thereby serves the Zionist regime. The basis in question, of course, relies on Wahhabism, a way of thinking based on which the Shias are polytheists and apostates and have left the Islamic Ummah, and as a result, the battle with them precedes the battle with the Jews, Christians, and infidels. It was for this reason that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (spiritual father of ISIS) also considered the battle with the Shias to be superior to the battle with the infidels and people of the book. He officially declared:
“Our fight with America is an easy task because America is a clear enemy and due to its lack of intelligence, it neither knows our land nor the real position of the Mujahideen. We know for sure that these crusading forces will leave either today or tomorrow. But the real enemies are Rafidas [a derogatory term that refers to Shias] who seek to expand their control over military and economic forces. They are also seeking to form a comprehensive government that includes Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and the Gulf countries. For this reason, the Rafidas are considered an adjacent and dangerous enemy of the Sunnis. Of course, it is true that America is the main enemy, but the danger of the Rafidas is greater and their harm is more severe. They are more deadly for the Islamic Ummah than America.”
It is based on such principles, branched off from Wahhabi thought, that ISIS prefers fighting against Shias and their allies (even if they are Sunnis) over fighting against infidels. In other words, they consider Shia to be polytheists and Sunni jihadist organizations — which, they claim, support polytheists — to be apostates. Then, they argue that fighting polytheists and apostates is preferable to fighting the followers of the Abrahamic religions (i.e. Jews and Christians).
Therefore, paying attention to the destructive effects of Wahhabi ideology is obligatory for every careful observer. That ideology, which is at the core of the ISIS movement, is further promoted by Zionist thinkers and leaders.
It can be seen that the Wahhabi thinking has reached a point where those who help the Qassam Brigades, which are in direct battle with the Zionist regime, are also executed by ISIS for the crime of cooperating with the so-called apostate and polytheist groups. Cases like this clearly show that ISIS, from a military point of view, is completely in the service of the Zionist regime.
Disrupting anti-Zionist gatherings
In addition to the above actions, ISIS not only excommunicates anti-Zionist groups under false pretenses but also attacks anti-Zionist gatherings and actually makes the space unsafe for public demonstrations against the Zionists.
For example, while the Iraqi Popular Forces were heading to the Trebil crossing on the Iraqi border for an anti-Zionist rally, ISIS announced an ambush near the town of Kabisa in Anbar. The town is located on the way to Trebil crossing. Since the actions of the Iraqi people were against the Zionists, ISIS made it unsafe to rally.
Apologizing to Zionist regime
Among the other pieces of evidence that prove the connection between ISIS and the Zionists and show that from the military point of view, ISIS serves the Zionist goals and does not harm it, is the Israeli Defense Minister’s admission that ISIS apologized for the conflict with the Israeli forces. Moshe Ya’alon, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Minister of Defense from 2013 to 2016, announced in a statement that ISIS had “apologized” for engaging with Israel in November 2016. The IDF declined to comment further on the matter.
The British online newspaper The Independent also confirmed this story. It further explained that Moshe Yaalon was referring to an incident in which a group linked to ISIS clashed with Israeli forces in the Syrian Golan Heights the previous November. That area is a rocky plateau in southwestern Syria, part of which was captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and then annexed in a move never recognized by the international community.
Yaalon made another mention of the story at an event in the northern city of Afula, during which he was being interviewed about Israel’s policy toward Syria. According to The Times of Israel, after a brief shootout, the Israeli army attacked the Syrian group of Khalid bin Walid with air strikes and tanks and killed four of them. An army spokesman said at the time that it was the first direct clash between Israeli forces and ISIS militants since the terrorist group opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side. Yaalon declined to elaborate on how ISIS apologized to Israel after the attack, and the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment.
Zionist support of ISIS
Up until here, a set of facts were mentioned that clearly showed that ISIS is at the service of the Zionist regime in the media and on the ground. It was also emphasized that Wahhabism is the main axis and foundation of ISIS.
The following sections seek to show, citing reliable facts, that the Zionist regime supports ISIS back in direct and indirect ways in line with its strategic interests. These indirect ways include the confirmation, promotion, and expansion of the Wahhabi idea by the leaders of the Zionist regime. The direct methods include financing ISIS with actions such as buying oil from it. These cases will be discussed further.
Israel’s promotion of Wahhabism
One of the things that confirms the above claim is the spokesman of the Israeli army’s all-out defense of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and his anti-Shia thoughts. In a video in Arabic, Avichay Adraee advised the Palestinians to learn authentic Islam, the Muhammadan Sharia, and the Sunnah from Ibn Taymiyya and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and not to follow Iran and Shia ideas. He said:
“Islamic Sharia and Prophetic tradition hate Shias. Thus, what heresy do you come up with, and by what right do you follow Iran’s terrorism? Blindly following to paint the region in the color of Iran’s government. Hamas! You have become like Iranian and Hezbollah mullahs and their ilk. You have officially become a Shia according to the noble prophetic hadith and the principles of the Iranian system. Have you not read the texts of Ahl Zikr from the religious scholars, jurists, and fathers of the sharia of Prophet Muhammad? They clearly warned you and your nation against the danger of becoming Shia in the Iranian model. The Salafism of Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab warned again about the danger of heretics for the religion of Islam: ‘Look at the speech of this atheist. You will find him from the speech of Rafidas [Shias].
They are far more harmful to the religion than Jews and Christians.’ Don’t you understand the danger of Iranians from these words? And do you still follow Iranian Shias? Those who are more dangerous to you than any other human being?”
It is interesting that the issues raised in this speech correspond to the ideological texts and declarations of ISIS leaders. This degree of conformity does not seem to be accidental.
Confirmation of Wahhabi ideology
One of the other cases that shows that the Zionist regime indirectly defends ISIS and its ideas is the endorsement of ISIS ideology by one of the extremist thinkers of Zionism, Mordechai Kedar. Kedar is an Israeli researcher specializing in the studies of the Islamic world and the Arab world, a professor at Bar Ilan University, and one of the editors and writers of the Newsrael newsfeed.
Kedar is a Zionist and has served in the military intelligence department of the Israeli army for 25 years. He also specializes in the field of Islamic groups, political discourse in Arab countries, the Arab press and mass media, and the domestic arena of Syria.
In an interview published a while ago with Abdul Rahman al-Balushi, an apparently Muslim Arab journalist who supports and follows the deviant and takfiri Wahhabi thought, he clearly confirmed the Wahhabi thoughts of the interviewer. He validated the Wahhabi thought and echoed al-Wahhab’s labeling of certain groups as polytheists. Since, as stated, Wahhabism and the teachings of al-Wahhab are the main theoretical and practical basis behind the ideology of ISIS, here Kedar is actually confirming ISIS by confirming these foundations. The abridged translation of this interview follows.
The interviewer told Kedar, “The Wahhabi da’wah was a reform movement to eliminate the manifestations of polytheism that spread in that historical period, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was able to publish this da’wah by uniting with Muhammad bin Saud. In fact, Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab’s dawa was along with Ibn Taymiyya’s dawa, and Ibn Taymiyya’s dawa was not outside of Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s dawa. In contrast to the views of Ash’ari, Sufi, and similar movements, there were issues such as asking saints and righteous people, building graves, bowing and visiting graves, and asking for help and intercession from the dead, which in the Islamic heritage are called polytheism.”
Mordechai Kedar, while confirming the above content, responded, “In the Islamic view, the saints and the righteous are the teachers of the path and tariqa of Sufiya. But if they are dead, this is Shirk [polytheism]. If someone prays for a dead person and asks him to intercede for people because of their sins and mistakes, this is Shirk in the Islamic view. This is the same as placing a dead person in a higher position than a living person and placing him as a mediator between God and mankind. Undoubtedly, this is Shirk.”
Israel’s financing of ISIS
It is natural that when a movement like ISIS serves the interests of the Zionists like this, the movement of Zionism supports it both indirectly and directly. One of its important and proven backings is the fact that Israel purchased oil from ISIS.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Aida Touma-Suleiman confirmed during a Knesset session that Israel bought oil from ISIS: “These links are well documented by the reports of the Israeli cabinet under Benjamin Netanyahu purchasing oil from the Islamic State.” She added, “I am against cooperation with extremist and terrorist groups such as ISIS, which massacre people. I am not the only one who knows about Israel’s collaboration with ISIS. The United Nations has documented the cooperation of the Israeli cabinet with ISIS.”
In a nutshell
It can be concluded that the Zionist regime, directly and indirectly, supports ISIS just as ISIS serves the Zionist regime with the purpose of disuniting the Islamic world and furthering Israeli strategic interests in the region. To this aim, the thinkers and leaders of both are also trying to strengthen and spread the ideology of Wahhabism with all their power and propaganda resources.
Any external observer who mulls over the comments and facts raised in this article with an open mind will confirm that there is a close relationship between ISIS and the Zionist regime and that this terrorist group moves entirely to serve the interests of the Zionist regime.