Israel bans Islamist group it blames for inciting Arabs

Israel has outlawed an Islamist group it blames for inciting the country’s Arab citizens and fuelling a two-month wave of deadly violence.

The move was swiftly condemned by Arab leaders and threatens to worsen already strained relations with Israel’s Arab minority.

The northern branch of the Islamic Movement of Israel, which provides religious and educational services for Israeli Arabs, routinely accuses Israel of trying to take over a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem, a charge Israel denies. The site is at the heart of the latest surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence.

The government announced early on Tuesday that the security cabinet had approved the measure, which had been widely expected. Israeli politicians have repeatedly called for a ban on the group since the violence erupted in mid-September.

“The goal is to stop the dangerous incitement at home and prevent harm to innocent life,” said Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister.

After the decision, Israeli police ordered the closure of 17 organisations affiliated with the group and searched more than a dozen of the organisations’ offices, seizing computers, files and funds. Authorities also froze the group’s bank accounts. The government said activists could be subject to arrest if they violate the ban.

The group’s leader, the radical cleric Raed Salah, said his party would fight the measure and continue its mission. “All these measures done by the Israeli establishment are oppressive and condemned,” Salah said in a statement. He said he and two other party leaders had been summoned to police questioning.

Salah is due to start an 11-month jail term this month in connection with incitement charges stemming from a 2007 sermon in which he allegedly called for a new uprising against Israel. Salah was previously imprisoned for funnelling money to Hamas, which rules Gaza.

The government claimed the movement was affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, had ties to Hamas and was committed to Israel’s destruction. It also accused the movement of “continuous incitement to violence and racism”.

In particular, it claimed the movement had led “a campaign of lies and incitement” by accusing Israel of plotting to take over the Jerusalem holy site at the heart of the current round of violence.

Israel’s public security minister, Gilad Erdan, sought to link the decision to the attacks in Paris, saying: “Israel must act as an example and spearhead the struggle against radical Islam, whose emissaries we saw massacring innocent people in Paris.”

Arab leaders condemned the move, saying it was aimed at “incriminating” all Arabs in Israel. Arabs make up roughly 20% of Israel’s population, holding citizenship rights but frequently suffering discrimination in jobs, housing and public services.Mohammed Barakeh, the head of an umbrella group of Arab-Israeli political parties and community leaders, told Israeli Army Radio the decision was “an unjustified draconian step that is meant to incriminate the entire Arab population”. The umbrella organisation called an emergency meeting to discuss the ban.

Tuesday’s announcement was not the first time Israel has taken such a step. Two decades ago, Israel banned two extremist Jewish parties who had voiced support for attacks against Palestinians, declaring them terrorist organisations.

The current round of violence erupted in mid-September over rumours that Israel was trying to expand the Jewish presence at Jerusalem’s holiest site, and the unrest spread to the West Bank, Israeli cities and the Gaza border. Palestinian attacks, mainly stabbings, have killed 14 Israelis, and at least 83 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, including 51 Israel says were involved in assaults. The rest were killed in clashes with security forces.

The Jerusalem hilltop compound, sacred to both Jews and Muslims, houses al-Aqsa mosque and is the third holiest site in Islam. It is the holiest site in Judaism and was home to the biblical Jewish Temples. Since 2001, the Islamic Movement has bussed tens of thousands of supporters to the mosque compound each year to strengthen the Muslim presence.

Hamas described Tuesday’s ban as racist,saying it targeted Arabs in Israel and punished the Islamic Movement for its role in “protecting” sensitive holy sites such as al-Aqsa mosque.