Amdocs server farm was allegedly chosen as target in planned terror attack
Prosecutors say a 20-year-old spent 18 months exploring ways to attack the Ra’anana facility, including with an explosives-carrying drone.
An Amdocs server farm in Ra’anana became the focus of an alleged terror plot in which a 20-year-old man is accused of exploring for more than a year how to attack a strategic site using explosives, including a device carried by a drone.
The State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment Thursday against Mustafa Issa, a resident of Kafr Qasim, alleging that he ultimately identified the Amdocs facility as his preferred target because he believed an attack could cause serious economic and national damage to Israel.
The case offers an unusual example of how a civilian site connected to the country’s technology infrastructure can become a potential target in the context of the war. According to the indictment, Issa spent approximately 18 months looking into possible attack methods before moving to practical preparations.
Prosecutors allege that he considered several approaches, including placing an explosive at a target and using a drone to drop one. He eventually bought a drone and equipment that could be used to attach an explosive to it, while also watching instructional material on how explosives could be mounted on drones.
The alleged preparations also involved efforts to manufacture explosives. According to the indictment, Issa tried to create a device by combining flammable substances with material from fireworks and firecrackers. In a separate experiment, he prepared a mixture containing sulfur, charcoal and other materials, but destroyed it after the attempt failed.
The State Attorney’s Office alleges that Issa was simultaneously seeking information that could help him carry out an attack. During his time volunteering with Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services, prosecutors say, he traveled through different parts of the country and collected information about locations that could potentially be targeted.
The indictment says he also downloaded guides, files and videos concerning weapons, explosive devices and methods associated with lone attackers. Prosecutors allege that the material served as training for the planned attack.
Issa was charged at the Central District Court in Lod with preparing to commit a terror act involving malicious damage with explosives, weapons activity for terrorist purposes and training or instruction for terrorist purposes.
Prosecutors say the decision to pursue an attack emerged against the backdrop of the war. In asking the court to hold Issa until the end of the proceedings, the State Attorney’s Office cited what it described as a nationalist motive connected to the war and IDF operations.
The detention request also refers to a statement attributed to Issa that he had been taught at school to hate the State of Israel.
The prosecution argues that the alleged preparations make Issa a significant risk, pointing in particular to what it describes as the transition from an intention to attack to concrete steps toward carrying one out.
