Rejecting claims of racism, PM defends ban on Islamic extremist group
‘We have nothing against Islam,’ Netanyahu says, but Islamic Movement Northern Branch wants to set up a caliphate in place of Israel
Raoul Wootliff is a former Times of Israel political correspondent and Daily Briefing podcast producer.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday rejected criticism of a government decision to ban the Northern Branch of Israel’s Islamic Movement, accusing the group of subversive activity aimed at overthrowing the state.
“The Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement … incites to violence against the innocent and is establishing close ties with the Hamas terror group and it undermines the state in order to set up in its place an Islamist caliphate,” Netanyahu told the press.
Rejecting claims by Joint (Arab) List Knesset Members, Netanyahu said that the measure was not intended to harm Israel’s Arab Israeli population.
“We have nothing against Islam. We have nothing against the Muslim citizens of Israel, who enjoy full equal rights, and the vast majority of whom are law-abiding citizens. But we will continue to act against inciters, and those who encourage terrorism,” he said. “We will continue to act against the inciters, against those who support terror no matter who they are. Our goal is to prevent incitement that contributes to attacks against the innocent. Our goal is to protect the state.”
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, speaking Tuesday at a Knesset ceremony for Israel’s reserve soldiers, reiterated Netanyahu’s claim and encouraged citizens to reach out further to Israel’s Muslim population.
“This is the time to stress that we must continue to work to fully integrate Arab Israelis,” Ya’alon said in his speech.
“Their integration is important to us and one of our values. The Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement seeks to fight this coexistence and the integration of Israel’s Arabs. And it is incumbent upon us — both Israel’s leadership and within the Arab Israeli community — to fight this,” he said.
The security cabinet outlawed the Northern Branch at a Monday night meeting, accusing it of links to terrorist groups and incitement during the recent wave of violence, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Tuesday.
“For years, the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement has led a mendacious campaign of incitement under the heading ‘Al-Aqsa is in danger,’ which falsely accuses Israel of intending to harm the Al-Aqsa Mosque and violate the status quo,” the statement said.
Israeli security forces carried out a series of overnight raids on the organization’s offices, seizing computers, documents and cash in regional branches across the country, the Israel Police and Shin Bet said. Police also froze bank accounts linked to the organization and a number of NGOs working alongside it.
“Only in this way will we defeat terror. With determination and an iron fist, but also with responsibility and discretion, will we fight Palestinian terrorism and terrorism in general,” Ya’alon said in his speech.
Responding to the announcement, Joint List chair MK Ayman Odeh called the move a politically motivated decision made for “strategic purposes.”
“Netanyahu is continuing in his attempts to exacerbate the situation on the ground and cause additional escalation by inciting against a political movement whose activities are all conducted under the right to free speech,” he said. “This is indisputably a case of political, anti-democratic persecution that is part of the de-legitimization campaign waged by Netanyahu’s government against the country’s Arab citizens.”
Joint List MK Taleb Abu Arar said that Israel had “declared war on the Arab community in Israel, and Israel had to bear the consequences.”
He told Israel Radio that the Islamic Movement was not responsible for the recent violence, blaming Netanyahu’s policies regarding the Temple Mount for causing a “third intifada.”
“The Islamic Movement will not stop defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque and won’t remain silent toward what is going on there,” he said.
Northern Branch leader Sheikh Raed Salah also denounced the decision, calling it “repressive.”
“I will take every possible legitimate step, in Israel and internationally, to remove the measures taken against the movement,” he declared.
Salah is set to start an 11-month prison sentence later this month for incitement to violence and racism over an inflammatory sermon he delivered in 2007 in Jerusalem. He has previously served terms for similar offenses.
