Steven Sotloff Held Israeli Citizenship, But ISIS Apparently Didn't Know About It
Israel's foreign ministry says Steven Sotloff, the journalist whose execution was captured on video by ISIS, held dual American-Israeli citizenship. Sotloff's connection to Israel had been kept secret in an effort to protect him, and it's not believed that his captors even knew he was Jewish. From Reuters:
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, quoting a former fellow captive, said Sotloff had kept his Judaism a secret from the Islamist insurgents, pretending he was sick when he fasted for the Yom Kippur holiday.
The Times of Israel writes that Sotloff
moved to the country in 2008 to study government at the Interdisciplinary Center. His mother Shirley's parents were Holocaust survivors.
A journalist named Oren Kessler who kept up an email correspondence with Sotloff says that he did not discuss Israel or Judaism when working:
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http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/09/03/steven_sotloff_israeli_isis_victim_was_dual_citizen.html?wpsrc=slatest_newsletter