The antisemitic Sheikh Raed Salah, former leader of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, previously designated a terrorist organization, was arrested in a police raid in Umm al-Fahm. The Northern Branch has been recognized as an extension of Hamas and espoused similar ideologies. The police also raided the offices of Salah’s latest organization "Committee for Promoting Peace," which was designated a terrorist group by Minister Katz.
A joint statement by the Israel police, Shin Bet, and the Defense Ministry read “Information gathered in recent years has shown that despite the innocuous name, in practice the Committee served as a cover for the continued activities of the Northern Branch, which is aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. The group ultimately aims to undermine the State of Israel."
Approximately two and a half years ago, HaKol HaYehudi uncovered that immediately after Salah’s release from prison after being convicted for incitement, Salah began rebuilding his organization under a new name after the Northern Branch was outlawed. He resumed his incitement under the "Committee for Promoting Peace."
Outwardly, the Committee claimed to focus on conflict resolution and addressing violence in the Arab sector. However, in reality, it brought together Northern Branch activists who proselytized for the movement and spread its ideology.
Following the latest information, police raided Salah's home in Umm al-Fahm, as well as the offices of the Committee for Promoting Peace in the city. According to reports on social media, Salah was arrested, and the committee was outlawed. Police also confiscated numerous items from the Committee’s offices. Salah was released after just a few hours, but the committee has officially been outlawed as a terror group.
Another entity sponsoring Salah’s activities is the Senior Monitoring Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, headed by Muhammad Barakeh, which offered its full backing for the reincarnation of the terror group.
An investigation by the Cities of Israel organization showed that the leadership of the Committee for Promoting Peace consisted almost entirely of former members of the Northern Branch, with 9 of 10 board members having held positions in the previously outlawed group.
Approximately eight months ago, journalist Ahikam Himmelfarb and Cities of Israel uncovered that Salah had embarked on a campaign wherein he visited numerous newly elected municipal leaders. During these visits, he brought a delegation with him and was received warmly by many elected officials, some of whom even presented him with awards.
After we published the names of the leaders of the Senior Monitoring Committee as part of our project on "Inciters,” the Committee took aim at HaKol HaYehudi, labeling our project “a campaign of incitement" against them.
Cities of Israel stated in response to the events, "Cities of Israel has documented hundreds of events involving the committee over the past two years, collected thousands of documents, and carefully analyzed the organization’s operations. The tremendous amount of evidence collected was transferred to the relevant authorities and served as the basis for the correct decision by the Minister.
“The designation of the committee as a terrorist organization marks a significant achievement in our fight against groups carrying out terrorist activities while pretending to serve humanitarian purposes. Our comprehensive investigation proved beyond a doubt that the Committee was a direct reincarnation of the outlawed Northern Branch and was cynically claiming to be a social group.
“We at Cities of Israel will continue to monitor similar attempts to reconstitute terror groups and will provide relevant information to law enforcement. Given the findings that the Senior Monitoring Committee was sponsoring this declared terrorist organization, we believe a thorough assessment of possible enforcement measures against them is necessary.”
