Captured Israeli Arab ISIS Fighter Sayyaf Sharif Daoud Asks Netanyahu to Let Him Return to Israel, Says ISIS Is Stronger than It Was

Captured Israeli-Arab ISIS fighter Sayyaf Sharif Daoud said in a July 31, 2019 interview on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that only God knows if ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was "created" by the Mossad, and he said that Al-Baghdadi was known for listening to those around him rather than having his own opinions. He also said that Al-Baghdadi enjoyed the luxuries of the material world, saying: "I saw how fat he was [in a video] while the people who left Baghuz weighed 50-60 kilograms. They would eat grass." Daoud said that although the Islamic State is gone, ISIS' cells still exist, and he said that ISIS is perhaps stronger today than it was in the past when there was a central command. Daoud then spoke to the camera in Hebrew, addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a request to allow him to return to Israel. Daoud said: "I am an Israeli citizen… You do not discriminate between Arabs, Jews, and Druze… I am having a very, very tough time in this prison… I will return as a better [person]." For a related interview with Sayyaf Sharif Daoud, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 7354.