Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon Wednesday signed a formal decree outlawing the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant aka as ISIS, ISIL or IS. Association with the group is illegal and its meetings banned anywhere in Israel. Activists, associates and fundraisers for IS will be subject to criminal prosecution under the decree. It was signed the day after Islamist terrorists in Iraq beheaded a Jewish-American Journalist, Steven Sotloff, who also held Israeli citizenship. On the recommendation of the Shin Bet, Ya’alon also signed a decree banning the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades, a Sunni jihadist group linked to al-Qaeda which is based in Lebanon and has been responsible for launching rockets into Israel.
DEBKAfile: The defense minister took this step after a rash of black al Qaeda flags began appearing over Israeli-Arab buildings in different parts of the country.