Raed Salah

Salah was born in Umm al-Fahm in the 1950s; his father and two brothers served as Israeli police officers.[1][5] He instead pursued religious study and subsequently became a religious and political leader.[1] In the late 1970s, he studied Islamic law at Hebron University and joined the Islamic Movement, described as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.[1]

During his time at the institution in Hebron, Salah and Kamel Khatib formed the nucleus of an Islamic cell.[5] Their association later continued in the leadership of the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch, with Khatib serving as Salah’s deputy.[5] Salah was arrested in 1981 for joining Asrat al-Jihad, or “Family of Jihad,” an organization established by Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, the founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel.[5] Members of the organization, including Khatib, were arrested for membership in an illegal organization and were freed in the 1985 Jibril Deal.[5]

Salah became mayor of Umm al-Fahm in 1989, one of five Islamic Movement candidates elected to mayoral office that year, and served until 2001.[1][5] He voluntarily left office to concentrate on Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.[1] His movement helped transform Umm al-Fahm from a communist stronghold into a center of Islamist life in Israel.[1] The city, described as entirely Muslim in a religious-freedom report, continued to elect Islamic Movement leadership after his initial victory.[6]

The movement’s growing involvement in electoral politics produced a division over whether participation in Israel’s national political institutions was religiously and politically acceptable.[1] Salah regarded participation in the secular Israeli political system as incompatible with Islamic law and opposed the movement’s decision to contest Knesset elections.[1] He also advocated that Muslims in Israel detach themselves from governmental institutions.[5] These positions contrasted with his own sustained involvement in municipal government.[2]

The Islamic Movement formally split in 1996, when the Southern Branch chose to participate in national elections.[2] Salah led the Northern Branch, which opposed the Oslo Accords and boycotted Knesset elections, while Darwish led the Southern Branch, which accepted the peace process and later entered the Knesset as Ra’am.[1] Kamel Khatib became Salah’s deputy in the northern organization.[5] The Northern Branch’s electoral boycott continued even after the organization was banned in 2015.[7]

An account published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs describes Salah’s municipal strength in the 1998 election: running for mayor for the third time, he received 70 percent of the vote, while his movement won seven of eleven council seats.[8] The same account places his preaching and the growth of voluntary welfare associations alongside the development of a local Islamic organization in Umm al-Fahm.[8]

The Northern Islamic Movement began its annual “Al-Aqsa is in Danger” rallies in 1996, following the opening of the northern end of the Western Wall tunnels.[2] The first major rally in Umm al-Fahm drew thousands, and by 2012 northern rallies had drawn as many as 50,000 supporters; protests Salah organized in Jerusalem typically drew hundreds.[1][2]

Salah presented Jerusalem as both a national and religious concern, stating: “Jerusalem is a Palestinian issue, though it has an Islamic religious dimension as well as an Arab-Islamic civilisational dimension”.[2] His campaign opposed what he characterized as infringements on Islamic sovereignty over the Temple Mount, also known as Haram al-Sharif.[2] He treated the entire compound as sacred to Muslims and repeatedly asserted that Jews sought to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque.[5] When he left the mayoralty in 2001, he said he wanted to focus on defending the mosque against what he described as an Israeli plan to destroy it.[1]

From 1996 to 1998, Salah and his movement played a leading role in establishing two mosques on the Temple Mount: one in the underground area known as Solomon’s Stables and another beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque.[1] Arab Israeli volunteers performed the work using donated materials, and contributions financed the projects.[1] The Waqf Administration worked with Salah’s Northern Islamic Movement on the Solomon’s Stables prayer hall, where construction began in 1996 without approval from Israeli authorities.[9]

The movement’s Jerusalem activities extended well beyond rallies and construction projects.[2] It arranged free buses enabling Israeli Palestinians to pray at Al-Aqsa and shop in the Old City, supported house renovations and alternative neighborhood plans, organized activities for children, and supplied legal assistance to residents.[2] Old City merchants praised the arrival of customers in economically depressed markets, while some Jerusalem residents objected to the influence of activists arriving from northern Israel.[2] Salah became particularly associated with buses bringing followers from Umm al-Fahm to Jerusalem.[6]

The “Al-Aqsa is in Danger” campaign reached a peak during 2013–2015.[9] On November 27, 2013, Salah held a conference for members of Masatab al-Ilm, or “Benches of Learning,” an organization from which the Murabitun and Murabitat subsequently emerged.[5] These men’s and women’s groups confronted Jewish visitors at the Temple Mount and were declared illegal in September 2015.[5][9]

Salah hosted a Northern Islamic Movement rally in Umm al-Fahm shortly before the October 2000 violence.[10] An article by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs places the gathering on September 18, reports attendance exceeding 35,000, and identifies its theme as “Al Aksa [Mosque] is in Danger”.[10] It reports that Salah asserted exclusive Islamic rights to Jerusalem’s holy sites and that the crowd chanted, “In spirit and blood, we shall redeem Al Aksa.”[10]

The subsequent Or Commission findings assigned Salah substantial responsibility for inflaming tensions before the violence.[11] Its published summation identified repeated messages during 1998–2000 encouraging violence or threats of violence, together with mass assemblies and propaganda concerning Al-Aqsa.[11] It also attributed to him statements presenting Israel as an enemy, rejecting its legitimacy, and referring to an allegedly planned massacre at Al-Aqsa on September 29, 2000.[11] The commission assessed that his conduct contributed substantially to provoking the violence in the Arab sector in early October.[11]

The commission made no recommendation concerning Salah because he had resigned as mayor, held no official public position, and performed his movement role voluntarily.[11] The broader commission findings also identified state neglect and discrimination against Israel’s Arab sector as central underlying causes of the violence, as summarized in the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs article.[10] That account distinguished these underlying conditions from the additional inflammatory effects attributed to political and religious leaders.[10]

Israeli forces arrested Salah and fourteen other Islamic Movement officials on May 13, 2003, in an operation called “Ants’ Work”.[12] Authorities suspected the group of transferring millions of dollars to Hamas under the cover of humanitarian assistance.[12] An indictment served on June 24 concerned alleged connections between the Northern Branch and Hamas, including fundraising and support for imprisoned Hamas members and their families.[5] Salah was also charged in connection with contact with an Iranian intelligence agent operating from Lebanon.[12]

Restrictions on his foreign travel had begun in 2002, with authorities repeatedly renewing six-month bans.[13] His criminal case remained pending at the end of 2003, while human-rights groups criticized the detention of Salah and other movement leaders without bail as discriminatory.[13] These initial allegations were broader than the offenses ultimately resolved through a plea arrangement.[14]

Under that arrangement, Salah pleaded guilty to transferring funds to illegal organizations and giving information to a foreign agent.[14] The government dropped its most serious charges, including the allegation that he had channeled money to a terrorist organization.[14] A Haifa court imposed a prison sentence, a three-year suspended sentence, and a four-month prohibition on entering Jerusalem without police permission.[14] He was released on July 16, 2005, with credit for time already served in detention.[14]

The proceedings therefore did not establish guilt on every accusation advanced at the time of his arrest.[14] The final plea offenses concerned illegal organizations and information supplied to a foreign agent, rather than a conviction on the dropped terrorist-funding allegation.[14]

In February 2007, Salah spoke at an East Jerusalem demonstration opposing construction at the Mughrabi Ascent to the Temple Mount.[15] His speech included a call for an “Islamic intifada from sea to sea” in support of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.[16] In 2013, a Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court convicted him of incitement to violence but acquitted him of racial-hatred charges; the court found no conclusive evidence linking the speech to subsequent stone-throwing.[16]

In March 2014, the court imposed eight months’ imprisonment and an additional eight-month suspended sentence.[16] The sentencing judge emphasized Salah’s public standing and the “explosive potential” of his choice of words.[16] A district court subsequently accepted the state’s appeal and convicted him of incitement to racism as well.[17] After further proceedings, he entered prison in May 2016 and was released in January 2017 after serving nine months.[15][18]

Separate restrictions and cases also affected his access to Jerusalem.[2] A court barred him from approaching within 150 metres of the Old City walls in early 2007, and he received a thirty-day Jerusalem ban in October 2009.[2] In 2010, he served five months in prison in connection with spitting at a police officer during a protest three years earlier, after a nine-month sentence was reduced on appeal.[2]

Salah was also a prominent participant in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla.[16] A Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs account places him aboard the Mavi Marmara and reports his arrest and subsequent release from a police investigation after the incident.[19] He later attended the May 31, 2012, Istanbul commemoration, where he said the ship would sail again to “liberate Damascus, Homs, Hama and Gaza” and that “the Israeli murderers would drown in blood and tears”.[20]

In November 2015, Israel’s security cabinet declared the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch an unlawful association.[21] The declaration exposed people joining, serving, or acting on behalf of the organization to criminal penalties and permitted the seizure of associated property; it did not apply to the Southern Branch.[21] Israeli officials cited alleged links with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, together with the branch’s role in incitement.[21]

Following the decision, Salah, his deputy, and the official responsible for the Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa portfolio were summoned for interrogation.[21] The defense minister ordered the confiscation of funds and property belonging to seventeen associated organizations and institutions.[21] Authorities also moved to close affiliated offices and freeze assets, while Salah and two other officials were barred from leaving Israel through January 2016 on accusations of inciting violence.[22]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ban aimed to stop incitement and prevent harm to civilians.[21] Salah rejected the declaration, said he would remain the branch’s leader, and pledged to continue its Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa work.[21] The prohibition forced organizational changes, and in April 2016 a new movement, al-Wafaawa-al-Islah, or “Loyalty and Reform,” was announced under Sheikh Hosam Abu Leil.[15]

On July 14, 2017, three gunmen carried out an attack at the Temple Mount entrance that killed Israeli police officers Haiel Sitawe and Kamil Shnaan.[5] Salah subsequently praised the perpetrators as martyrs in remarks that became central to another criminal case.[3] The case concerned a sermon, a similar speech at a symbolic funeral for the gunmen, and other public statements made after the Northern Branch had been outlawed.[3]

Police arrested Salah at his home in Umm al-Fahm on August 15, 2017, following a joint investigation with the Shin Bet.[18] Authorities suspected him of incitement to violence and terrorism and membership or activity in an unlawful association.[18] An indictment served on August 24 cited calls for jihad and praise for the killers of the two officers.[5] At the funeral, he quoted a Quranic verse concerning those killed in the cause of Allah.[3]

In March 2018, the Haifa District Court reversed a lower court’s decision permitting house arrest.[23] The judge reasoned that electronic monitoring would not prevent alleged ideological incitement through personal meetings or the communication of messages to a supportive public.[23] On July 6, 2018, Salah was released to house arrest.[24]

A Haifa Magistrate’s Court convicted him in November 2019 of incitement to terrorism and supporting the outlawed Northern Branch.[25] A BESA Center account says Ala Tawil testified that he regarded Salah as his leader and wanted to carry out an attack on behalf of Al-Aqsa.[5]

In February 2020, the magistrate’s court sentenced Salah to twenty-eight months in prison.[3] The Haifa District Court rejected his appeal in July and upheld the conviction and sentence.[4] The appellate panel rejected his defense that the remarks were Quran-based religious opinions without a direct call to violence.[4]

Salah began serving the sentence in August 2020, with eleven months credited for time already served.[4] Before entering Kishon Prison, he addressed hundreds of supporters and said, “I do not respect the court’s decision.”[4] He was released from Megiddo Prison on December 13, 2021, after serving seventeen months, and approximately 1,000 supporters greeted his return to Umm al-Fahm.[26] At his release he said that prosecuting him had amounted to prosecuting the Quran, the Prophet’s ways, and his community’s heritage.[27]

In 2017, Salah established the Ifshaa’ Al-Salam reconciliation committees, which presented their purpose as reducing violence in Arab society through mediation of family disputes.[28] In January 2025, Israel’s defense minister outlawed the committees, and authorities closed their offices, froze a bank account, and briefly arrested Salah.[28] A joint security and police statement alleged that the committees functioned as a cover for the banned Northern Branch and disseminated its ideology.[28]

Salah’s contacts with elected Arab politicians also continued after his release from prison.[26] A December 20 meeting with Ra’am Knesset member Mazen Ghnaim prompted opposition politicians to accuse Ghnaim of “supporting terrorism”.[26] The Northern Islamic Movement itself continued its boycott of national elections after the 2015 ban.[7]

Salah’s public influence extended from municipal leadership in Umm al-Fahm to religious activism in East Jerusalem, where his movement developed a presence through holy-site campaigns and practical assistance to residents.[1][2] The combination of transportation, shopping visits, legal support, renovations, and religious mobilization connected the movement’s northern base with Jerusalem’s everyday social and economic life.[2]

The large northern rallies and the mosque projects of the late 1990s became particularly visible expressions of his leadership.[1] His association with the new prayer spaces strengthened his standing among supporters, while the annual Al-Aqsa campaign made the site central to the Northern Branch’s political and religious identity.[1] Despite the movement’s prohibition and his repeated imprisonment, the large reception in Umm al-Fahm following his December 2021 release demonstrated his continuing local following.[26]

The factual premise of Salah’s Al-Aqsa campaign was disputed: Israel denied intending to destroy or take control of the mosque and said it was protecting the status quo.[1] Criticism of his confrontational approach also came from Palestinians, alongside Israeli criticism of his rhetoric.[2] Reports of rock-throwing from the compound toward Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall formed part of the wider concern surrounding movement-associated visits.[6]

The Northern Branch ban drew objections from Arab Israeli politicians and the Southern Branch, which called it politically motivated; Shin Bet representatives reportedly warned that prohibition could inflame tensions and make monitoring more difficult.[21] Salah defended his funeral remarks as Quran-based religious opinions without a direct call to violence, but the appellate court rejected that defense.[4] Upon release, he also said he had spent half his sentence in solitary confinement.[7] Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas disputed the claimed ideological basis for the 2025 reconciliation-committee ban and warned that it could undermine efforts to reduce violent crime.[28]