Prosecutors on Tuesday charged a 20-year-old from a southern Bedouin town with plotting a car-bomb attack on a popular Beersheba nightclub, after he contacted Islamic State enthusiasts and a person “who presented himself as a Palestinian terror operative,” police and the Shin Bet said.

The Southern District Attorney’s Office indicted Abdullah Gergawi at the Beersheba District Court on charges of security offenses and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, the joint statement said.

Gergawi was arrested on July 19 in his hometown of Segev Shalom, according to the statement.

Gergawi “carried out actions” to produce an explosive device as part of his plan to attack Beersheba’s Forum nightclub, police and the Shin Bet said.

The statement did not specify the time of the preparations or when Gergawi allegedly planned to carry out the attack.

It also did not say how far along the plan was.

According to the statement, Gergawi had been “exposed for an extended period” to Islamic State propaganda on social media, and he “identified with the organization’s ideology and consumed terrorist content.”

In addition to contacting the purported Palestinian terror operative, Gergawi also “participated in a Telegram group chat where materials were exchanged relating to Islamic State and terrorist activity,” the statement........

© The Times of Israel