The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which is now known as the “Islamic State” after declaring an Islamic caliphate, says it won’t fight Israel – for the time being.
According to Israel’s Channel 2 News, an ISIS spokesman said Monday on Twitter, in response to questions about the organization’s intentions with regards to Israel, that ISIS first has to deal with “Muslims who have become infidels”.
“The greatest answer to this question is in the Qur’an, where Allah speaks about the nearby enemy – those Muslims who have become infidels – as they are more dangerous than those which were already infidels,” the spokesman tweeted, according to Channel 2 News.
“There is another answer that gives priority to fighting those who have become disbelievers over conquest of Jerusalem,” continued the spokesman.
“Jerusalem will not be freed until we get rid of the idolaters, such as the wealthy families and the players appointed by the colonial government and who control the fate of the Islamic world,” he was quoted as having said.
In Syria, ISIS fighters already control large swathes of territory in Deir Ezzor near the Iraq border, Raqa in the north, as well as parts of neighboring Aleppo province.
In Iraq, they have spearheaded a lightning offensive, capturing sizeable territories in the north and west of the conflict-torn country.
Former National Security Council director Yaakov Amidror warned last week against ISIS moving in on Jordan and posing a threat to Israel, adding that if Jordan requested Israeli assistance in preventing its border with Iraq from being overrun by ISIS, Israel would have little choice but to help.
A video released last week showed members of ISIS parading some of the advanced weaponry it has captured in its blitz conquest of Iraq to Syria, including long-range Scud missiles which could threaten Israel, as they have been fired at Israel in the past from Iraq during the Gulf war.