Despite widespread conspiracy theories suggesting otherwise, ISIS has indeed carried out attacks on Israeli soil, though it has never launched a full-scale invasion. This reality stems from the group’s strategic priorities, operational limitations, and Israel’s effective security measures.
ISIS Has Attacked Israel, Contrary to Popular Myths
A common false claim is that ISIS has never attacked Israel, fueling conspiracy theories that Israel itself is behind ISIS. However, this assertion is factually incorrect. In March 2022, ISIS claimed responsibility for a series of violent attacks inside Israel that resulted in 11 deaths. These included a stabbing and a vehicle-ramming assault in Be’er Sheva. Videos released by attackers showed pledges of allegiance to ISIS.
Additionally, ISIS’s Sinai affiliate, known as Wilayat Sinai, has fired rockets toward the Israeli city of Eilat and sabotaged the Egypt-Israel natural gas pipeline in 2020. Israeli authorities have also arrested dozens of Israeli Arabs for ISIS-linked activities, including a 2015 plot targeting an Israeli Defense Forces base. Israel’s former intelligence chief, Ram Ben-Barak, warned of the threat posed by domestic ISIS cells.
Strategic Focus: The Near Enemy Before the Far Enemy
ISIS’s operational doctrine prioritizes attacking the “near enemy,” which refers to Muslim-majority governments it deems apostate, over the “far enemy,” which includes Western countries, Israel, and Jews more broadly. This approach traces back to a strategic split between Osama bin Laden, who emphasized attacking the United States, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose network evolved into ISIS and focused first on overthrowing Arab regimes.
In its 2007 manifesto, ISIS declared that fighting local governments was more urgent than combating external “occupying crusaders.” When Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared himself caliph in 2014, he followed this sequence by prioritizing the establishment of an Islamic state before expanding globally. Nonetheless, Baghdadi issued warnings to Jews in 2015, signaling that ISIS had not forgotten Israel and viewed Palestine as a future battleground.
Operational and Geographic Constraints Limit ISIS’s Reach
Several practical factors explain why ISIS has not launched a sustained campaign against Israel. The group never established a strong organizational presence within Israel or the Palestinian territories. Israeli security services have effectively curtailed ISIS’s ability to build networks, and established Palestinian factions already dominate the operational space.
In the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt’s military has focused on combating ISIS’s affiliate, limiting its capacity to project power into Israeli territory. This has kept the threat contained primarily to border skirmishes rather than full-scale attacks.
Geographically, ISIS’s main strongholds have been in Iraq and Syria, neither of which shares a direct border with Israel. While ISIS expanded into Syria, it concentrated on fighting Kurdish forces and other regional rivals rather than mounting an invasion of Israel.
One ISIS-linked faction, Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Walid, held territory near the Israeli border from 2016 to 2018 and engaged in sporadic clashes with the Israeli Defense Forces. However, this group was small, numbering only a few hundred fighters, and was eventually eliminated by Syrian government forces and their allies.
For ISIS to launch a large-scale invasion, it would have needed to secure a long corridor through hostile territory, defeat multiple armed groups, maintain extended supply lines, and confront Israel’s highly capable military. Such an operation would likely have been suicidal.
Israel’s Immigration and Security Policies Reduce Domestic ISIS Recruitment
ISIS-inspired attacks in Europe have often involved asylum seekers or second-generation immigrants. However, Israel’s population and immigration policies limit the potential for similar recruitment.
Since 2007, Israel has barred citizens from several neighboring countries considered hostile, including Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Its asylum acceptance rate is among the lowest globally, with only a handful of approvals out of thousands of applications. Most asylum seekers in Israel come from Eritrea and Sudan, reducing the pool of individuals susceptible to ISIS recruitment from neighboring Arab states.
Disinformation and Misconceptions About ISIS and Israel
The claim that Israel created ISIS or that the absence of a full-scale ISIS invasion proves coordination between the two is a misinterpretation of facts. This narrative ignores documented ISIS attacks against Israeli targets and the group’s long-standing ideological priorities.
The European Union’s disinformation monitoring project, EUvsDisinfo, has identified these conspiracy theories as recurring falsehoods. Similar claims allege that the United States and Israel created ISIS to justify ongoing military involvement in Syria, but these lack credible evidence.
Conclusion: ISIS’s Limited Attacks Reflect Strategy, Not Sponsorship
ISIS’s limited attacks against Israel, compared to its extensive campaigns in Iraq and Syria, result from strategic doctrine, operational challenges, and Israel’s robust security environment. The group’s focus on overthrowing local Muslim governments before targeting external enemies explains why Israel has not faced a full-scale ISIS invasion.
Understanding these factors dispels conspiracy theories and highlights the complex realities of regional jihadist strategies and counterterrorism efforts.
Source: Read the original reporting.
