On Thursday, the imam of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque denounced what he called a “fabricated” campaign against him after being charged with inciting terrorism for allegedly praising Palestinian gunmen who killed four Israelis, including a soldier.
Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, 85, the former mufti of Jerusalem and current head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem, preaches at the highly contested Jerusalem holy site.
This week, Sabri was indicted for inciting terrorism due to comments he allegedly made supporting an attacker who shot at guards in the occupied West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim, resulting in the death of a soldier in October 2022.
Sabri is also accused of praising Raad Hazam, who killed three Israelis and wounded six others in a shooting in Tel Aviv in April 2022. Hazam, 28, was later killed in a shootout with security guards.
“The state attorney’s office submitted to the Jerusalem magistrate court an indictment against… the former mufti of the city, after he incited terrorism and praised terrorists,” the justice ministry stated on Wednesday.
The statement added that Sabri had “praised and sympathized with terrorists” during a visit to Hazam’s family home.
Sabri denied the charges, claiming he was merely offering condolences to the families of the attackers after their deaths.
“This is a false accusation; the indictment is fabricated and malicious,” he said. “Offering condolences does not mean that we support what the children did.”
Sabri’s lawyer, Khaled Zabarqa, argued that his client had been targeted for political reasons.
“The indictment is the result of political action and not legal action. The sheikh has been persecuted for two years,” Zabarqa told AFP.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is a flashpoint holy site and the third holiest in Islam.
The site, also the holiest place for Jews, is situated in occupied east Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed, a move unrecognized by most of the international community.
The Palestinians seek occupied east Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state.
The site’s status is a central point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and perceived changes have previously sparked rounds of violence.
While Jews are officially allowed to visit but not pray, many Palestinians fear Israel may try to exert further control over it.
