ISIS is scarred of Israel?

Says a German journalist who spent 10 days in IS-controlled Mosul last year and survived, and publishing the revelations in a book, The Independent reported.

In an interview with the Jewish News, Jurgen Todenhofer said Israel is not included in ISIS' planned "first stage" of colonisation in the Middle East.

"They think they can defeat US and UK ground troops, who they say they have no experience in city guerrilla or terrorist strategies. "But they know the Israelis are very tough as far as fighting against guerrillas and terrorists." The former politician said the Isis militants he met claimed not to be scared of British or American soldiers but believed the Israeli Defence Forces were "a real danger".

ISIS has reportedly made several threats against Israel and Jewish people in its propaganda videos, claiming in October that "not one Jew" would be left in Jerusalem and vowing to eradicate the "disease" of Judaism from the world.

Mr Todenhofer described al-Qaeda as "peanuts" compared to IS after being allowed to meet the group's officials, militants and followers in Mosul. "They want to show that the Islamic State is working," he said afterwards. "I thought I would meet a brutal terrorist group, but I met a brutal country."

According to a report in The Independent, Israel is not part of the US-led coalition bombing ISIS in Iraq and Syria but its intelligence services are thought to be passing information on the group to allies.