Mahmoud Hamed, of the World Justice Project, is a former member of Israel’s General Security Agency (Shin Bet). He was sentenced to eight years prison in 2003 after an investigation by the Israel Police and the Shin Bet security service. He has since served his term in jail. As part of his sentence, Hamed agreed to reveal to the public, the names and activities of other people within Israel’s intelligence services. The former Shin Bet agents were given three months of legal aid to review their cases in light of the Law of Return. Many of them have lost contact with their families. All of the agents have since left Israel.

One of Hamed’s revelations to the public is that the US has been directly funding ISIS for three years in preparation for attacks in France. Hamed claims that, in a meeting between him and President Obama, Obama’s son suggested that the US pay more attention to ISIS because the terrorist group had more of a chance to succeed in a country such as France in the future.

Israeli officials denied it to the Daily Mail. One official told the Daily Mail: “The US has no role in ISIS recruitment, or terror fundraising. And, the question is irrelevant. We have intelligence on ISIS recruits and sympathisers, and those who are planning terror attacks within the U.S. and our allies. Israel has many intelligence assets. What is the use of the U.S. helping ISIS to carry out attacks in Europe and targeting Israelis and our neighbors in the Middle East?”