Father of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook: Son was 'obsessed with Israel'

In an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, the father of one of the San Bernardino shooters said his son was obsessed with Israel and that he had tried to convince him that war and killing was not the answer.

According to The Times of Israel, the senior Syed Farook said his son stated he backed the goal of ISIS to create an Islamic state and that he hated Israel.

“My son said that he shared [ISIS leader Abu Bakr] Al Baghdadi’s ideology and supported the creation of the Islamic State. He was also obsessed with Israel,” Farook explained.

“I told him he had to stay calm and be patient because in two years Israel will not exist any more. Geopolitics is changing: Russia, China and America don’t want Jews there any more," he continued. "They are going to bring the Jews back to Ukraine. What is the point of fighting? We have already done it and we lost. Israel is not to be fought with weapons, but with politics. But he did not listen to me, he was obsessed.”

According to an earlier interview with the younger Farook's sisters, the family saw no warning sign that he would go on a shooting rampage that would leave 14 people dead and 21 injured in San Bernardino.

“It’s the very opposite of what we were taught,” Eba Farook said.