Israeli official says American journalist beheaded in Syria was also an Israeli citizen

JERUSALEM – An Israeli official has confirmed that slain journalist Steven Sotloff was also an Israeli citizen.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson wrote Wednesday on his personal Twitter feed: "Cleared for publication: Steven Satloff was Israel citizen RIP," misspelling the journalist's last name.

There was no further comment from the ministry.

Sotloff, a 31-year-old Miami, Florida-area native who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, vanished in Syria in August 2013.

Sotloff was beheaded by the Islamic State group, which released a video of it Tuesday. He is the second American journalist to be killed by the extremist group in two weeks.

In Israel, friends and colleagues of Sotloff remembered him as an adventurous man who was fascinated with the Middle East.