fbpx

San Bernardino killer’s father: Son was obsessed with Israel

The father of San Bernardino killer Syed Rizan Farook said his son was obsessed with Israel, which shaped his Islamisist worldview.
[additional-authors]
December 7, 2015

The father of San Bernardino killer Syed Rizan Farook said his son was obsessed with Israel, which shaped his Islamisist worldview.

Syed Farook told the Italian newspaper La Stampa that he tried to persuade his son not to act on his hatred of Israel.

“I told him he had to stay calm and be patient because in two years Israel will not exist anymore. Geopolitics is changing: Russia, China and America don’t want Jews there anymore. They are going to bring the Jews back to Ukraine,” Sayed Farook said.

“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.”

Syed Rizan Farook was killed in a shootout with police after the Dec. 2 attack on a holiday party at a building housing a social services agency in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14.

Syed Farook told the newspaper that his son spoke about the Islamic State and that his wife, Tashfeen Malik, who also was killed in the shootout with police, may have radicalized him.

The Farook family, originally from Pakistan, has been living in the United States since 1973.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

The Sweet Song of Survival

There is a second form of sacred survival: to survive as a nation. And that too takes precedence over everything.

Print Issue: Iran | March 5, 2026

Success in the war against Iran – which every American and Israeli should hope for – will only strengthen the tendency of both leaders to highlight their dominant personalities as the state axis, at the expense of the boring institutions that serve them.

In a Pickle– A Turshi Recipe

Tangy, bright and filled with irresistible umami flavor, turshi is the perfect complement to burgers, kebabs and chicken, as well as the perfect foil for eggs and salads.

Who Knows?

When future generations tell your story and mine, which parts will look obvious in hindsight? What opportunities will we have leveraged — and decisions made — that define our legacy?

You Heard It Here First, Folks!

For over half a decade, I had seen how the slow drip of antisemitism, carefully enveloped in the language of social justice and human rights, had steadily poisoned people whom I had previously considered perfectly reasonable.

Trump’s Critics Have a Lot Riding on the Iran Conflict

Their assumptions about the attack on Iran are based on a belief in the resilience of an evil terrorist regime, coupled with a conviction that Trump’s belief in the importance of the U.S.-Israel alliance is inherently wrong.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.