There has long been speculation regarding ties between the Israeli government and the terror group Daesh, otherwise known as the Islamic State, or ISIL, or Isis.

Such speculation has been fueled by Israel’s reference to ISIS as a "useful tool," and its acknowledgment that it views Syria as under complete ISIS control, and that it's preferable to end President Bashar al-Assad's reign and regime.

And this time, according to a report from the Israeli website Inian Merkazi and Abna news agency, Libyan security forces have arrested an ISIS high-ranking official in the city of Benghazi, the second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, but only to find out after that the man they had captured was also an agent of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service.

The man, Ephraim Benjamin, has other names, like Abu Hafs when he's in Syria.

It's said that he began his mission in Libya after the 2011 NATO-led invasion of Libya that ousted former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

This suggests that the Islamic terror group has been receiving support, as well as extensive aid, and even medical treatments from Israel.

However, allegations have emerged that things could go even deeper than just that.

It's suggested that the connection between Israel and ISIS is more than what it was previously mentioned.

First of, Middle East Monitor reported that the Libyan authorities have allegedly accused Benjamin of gathering intelligence information on ISIL for Mossad, and that it's noted that some Libyan news outlets took to calling him the "Mossad sheikh.".

This is because Benjamin, or Hafs, was a prominent imam in a Benghazi mosque, before becoming a ISIS leader who commanded more than 200 fighters.

Second, while the news has been removed from the websites, the allegation continues when Iran's deputy foreign minister weighted in.

He said that it's indeed the Mossad that created ISIS. But not only that the Iranian official accused the Israeli's agency of aiming to "tarnish the image of Islam," but also that the Islamic State group has American roots.

Third, other regional media outlets, such as Masr Alarabia, described Benjamin as being one of Mossad’s Arabist, and that he is a Mossad agent with Arab features, and is fluent in Arabic and can use its dialects like natives.

This allowed him to blend it to the society.

What should be noted here, the term "Arabist" have gained a reputation for naming infiltrators at Palestinian protests and activist organizations, as well as assassinators of prominent Palestinians who are vocally against the Israeli occupation.

But Benjamin as a Mossad and an “Arabist" make it seem that he may be involved in more than the suppressing Palestinian dissent. Given that Israel has repeatedly stated it does not want ISIS to be defeated, it is said that Benjamin, a commander, was not "gathering intelligence" in order to defeat the Islamic State group, but rather to strengthen it.

And fourth, according to Inian Merkazi, Benjamin’s arrest showed that Mossad was influential in the rise of ISIS in the region, given that Benjamin began work in Libya in 2011 while ISIS did not begin operation in Libya until 2015.

These remain allegations, and nothing could really verify the claims of the many news agencies.

But what is certain, the news about Benjamin’s arrest, and how it becomes the concern of Israel’s military intelligence chief, Major General Herzi Halevi, shows that the man is no ordinary man.

It indirectly shows that an ISIS defeat could put the lives of Mossad agents at risk.

After all, certain groups and parties see the ISIS as a "strategic tool" for furthering Western and Israeli goals in the region.

At first, ISIS was seen as a covert mean of overthrowing Bashar al-Assad, but on a larger scale, reports suggest that the West and Israel is utilizing ISIS to divide nations, like Iraq and Syria, into pieces.

By breaking down the Middle East, the two allies can dominate the region, to then conquer its neighbors.

Before this, Israel's secretive, through the Mossad, has deployed a number of infiltration tactics, one of which was back in 2014, when one of Mossad's Arabist had successfully perforated the higher ranks of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

It's worth noting though, that the Israeli websites cited the incident as evidence to fight back Arab media to justify the common conspiratorial argument propagated in some Arab circles about Israel being behind the rise of ISIS in the region.

Speculations concerning whether Israel is ISIS is reignited at Palestinian's Hamas war against the Israel.

During the armed conflict that started in October 2023, social media again claimed that Israel is behind the ISIS idea and movement.

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