Israel urges global spies to pool resources on IS

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon on Tuesday called for world intelligence agencies to work together against the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

"In order to stop and overcome the Islamic State, we have learnt since 9/11 that there must be cooperation between intelligence agencies from across the free world, a sharing of experience and operational cooperation," he told public radio.

Islamic State is at the forefront of a sweeping militant assault that has overrun swathes of Iraq and holds significant areas of territory in neighbouring Syria.

US President Barack Obama on Friday called for a broad coalition to defeat the IS militants and he is to chair a key UN Security Council session on the threat on 24 September.

It was not immediately clear whether Yaalon's comments were directed at any particular country. However, the comments follow those from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week who said the country had agreed to a truce over the recent Gaza war in order to focus on regional militants. 

"We fought for 50 days and we could have fought for 500 days, but we are in a situation where the Islamic State is at the gates of Jordan, al-Qaeda is in the Golan and Hezbollah is at the border with Lebanon," Netanyahu said in an address on public television.

Asked about the proposed international coalition, former military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin indicated Israel would likely share its intelligence with its allies.

"The intelligence that we gather in the Middle East - which deals with threats from Iran, (Lebanon's Shiite) Hezbollah, what's happening in Syria, terrorist organisations in Sinai and the Gaza Strip - is of very good quality and we share it with our allies," he told the radio.

Last week, Yaalon adopted a recommendation by the Shin Bet internal security agency and designated both the Islamic State and Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a Lebanese group linked to al-Qaeda, as an "illegal organisation" under Israeli law.

The move allows for legal measures to be taken against both organisations as well as anyone found to be supporting or financing them.

Last week, IS released a video showing the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff, who also reportedly held Israeli nationality, in the second such execution of a US journalist within a fortnight.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades periodically claims rocket fire on Israel.