Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) called to outlaw the Islamic Movement in Israel on Sunday, noting that the group is responsible – at least in part – for the escalation of rioting in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount.
“The first step to curb the wave of incitement and violence on the Temple Mount and in the Arab sector is to remove and outlaw the Northern Islamic Movement, led by Sheikh Raed Salah,” Katz said on his Facebook page.
“For years, I warned against the [group’s] destructive influence,” Katz continued. “It is absurd that Raed Salah incites religious war and acts openly to promote Israel’s destruction, [but] moves in Israel freely and without limits, while his partners [the Muslim Brotherhood – ed.] in Egypt find themselves banned by law and sitting [in court] as caged defendants.”
Katz’s call to ban Salah is not his first. In August, the Minister also called to blacklist Salah after the Sheikh participated in anti-Israel riots in the Galilee.
“[Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh is in a bunker, and [Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt leader Mohammed] Morsi is in jail, and only Salah is still running free in the Galilee campaigning for Hamas against Israel,” Katz declared at the time.
“As I have proposed on several previous occasions, we must outlaw the Islamic Movement.”
Salah has a long history of violence and incitement. He was also jailed for five months in 2010 for spitting at an Israeli police officer; last year, he labeled Israeli leaders “terrorists” and “enemies of Allah” in a speech to Muslims in Be’er Sheva.
Recently, he was given a suspended eight month sentence in March for incitement regarding the Temple Mount.
The Islamic Movement itself, which is actually banned in several Muslim states, was involved in the violent “Nakba Day” protests opposing Israel’s existence earlier this year.