Arab MKs pay solidarity visit to ‘terror-supporting’ imam

Members of the Arab Joint List alliance visit notorious Temple Mount imam, who was recently arrested for incitement.

By World Israel News Staff

Thee Arab-Israeli MKs visited a radical imam who was recently arrested for incitement, posing for a photograph with the Sheikh at his home.

MKs Ahmad Tibi, Ayman Odeh and Youssef Atauna, all of the Arab Joint List alliance, visited Sheikh Ekrima Sabri at his home, sharing a picture of the meeting on their social media accounts.

Maor Tzemach, chairman of the Your Jerusalem NGO, has long raised the alarm regarding incitement on the Temple Mount and Islamic terror in Jerusalem.

Tzemach told World Israel News that it was disturbing for members of the Knesset to visit Sabri, considering his long history of incendiary remarks, along with his pro-terror views.

“For years, Ekrima Sabri, who was once the Grand Mufti of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and a member of Jerusalem’s Islamic Council, has been of the biggest inciters and terror supporters in the State of Israel,” Tzemach said.

“Just two weeks ago, he led a memorial prayer on the Temple Mount for the [assassinated] terrorist Ismail Haniyeh. For that, he received a ridiculous punishment – he was temporarily banned from the Temple Mount,” Tzemach continued. “So these Knesset members went to lift his spirits.”

Tzemach noted the “absurdity” that “these MKS are once again crossing a red line” by visiting a Sheikh notorious for his pro-terror stance, who was only recent arrested for incitement.

“I call on the Speaker of the Knesset [Likud MK Amir Ohana] to urgently launch an Ethics Committee investigation into these lawmakers, focused on their support for terror and Hamas.”

This is far from the first time that Tibi and Odeh have publicly supported terror.

In 2022, Tibi slammed the IDF for killing three terrorists who repeatedly fired at troops and civilians in the Shechem (Nablus) area of Samaria, framing the Israeli government’s elimination of the Al-Aqsa Brigade gunmen as an unlawful execution.

“These assassinations and these executions are an act of terrorism according to international law,” Tibi said in a statement immediately after news of the military operation. “Only the end of the occupation will end the violence.”

In a Knesset address later in the day, Tibi criticized Israel for “executing” the men. He concluded his statement by asking God to have “mercy on the martyrs,” referring to the terrorists.

In October 2021, Odeh attacked now-National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in a hospital corridor, outside of a room where a hunger-striking terrorist was receiving medical care.

Video showed that Odeh was clearly the aggressor in the incident, yet a police investigation into the fight was eventually closed.