Islamic Movement head Sheikh Raed Salah. Photo: Stay Human via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israeli prosecutors on Thursday indicted a controversial Islamic cleric on incitement to terror for the praising of three Israeli Arab terrorists.

Sheikh Raed Salah, a leader in the now-outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, was originally arrested last week for statements made during a speech in Umm al-Fahm at the funerals of the three Arab terrorists who killed two Israeli police officers on July 14 near the Temple Mount.

In that speech, Salah purportedly lauded the terrorists as “martyrs” and encouraged young Muslims to follow their example. Salah denied the allegations.

As part of the indictment on Thursday, Salah was charged with an additional two counts of incitement to terror as well as for membership of an illegal organization.

Salah’s indictment came seven months after he was released from jail after serving a nine-month sentence on similar charges. He was also sentenced to eight months in prison after the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court found him guilty of inciting violence in March 2014.