JERUSALEM – An Israeli court has sentenced a radical Islamic cleric to prison amid unrest over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.
A spokesman for the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel says the branch’s head, Raed Salah, will start an 11-month sentence in November.
Zahi Injaidat says Salah was sentenced for “incitement to violence” and “incitement for racism” in a 2007 sermon.
The sentencing Tuesday came amid a spike in violence that erupted in part over Palestinian rumors that Israel was altering prayer arrangements at the Jerusalem site.
Salah often made that claim a focus of his fiery rhetoric.
He has had repeated run-ins with Israel and was previously imprisoned for funneling money to Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza.
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