On Tuesday this week, Sheikh Issam Amira, considered the oldest security prisoner from East Jerusalem, was released from prison. Amira, one of the leading and longest-standing inciters in East Jerusalem, was released from Ramon Prison in southern Israel after completing a 34-month prison sentence for serious offenses involving incitement to terrorism and support for a hostile organization.
Amira’s release on Tuesday was delayed for several hours until restrictive conditions were arranged with the aim of preventing welcome celebrations, including the hanging of posters and the waving of flags in his honor. Members of his family arrived at the prison gates to receive him.
Amira, now 75, is a resident of the Sur Baher neighborhood in southeastern Jerusalem and a senior figure in the extremist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, which seeks to establish a global Islamic caliphate. Amira served as one of the preachers at Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount and, before that, served as an imam at a mosque in the Beit Safafa neighborhood in southern Jerusalem.
Why Was Sheikh Issam Amira Arrested and What Did He Say in His Al-Aqsa Mosque Sermon?
Amira’s arrest in October 2023 followed years of activity aimed at inflaming tensions on the ground and on the Temple Mount, but the central indictment and his conviction focused on an especially extreme and explosive sermon he delivered at Al-Aqsa Mosque on October 10, 2023 – just three days after the murderous October 7 massacre carried out by Hamas in the Gaza border communities.
The incitement was uncovered following joint activity by Jerusalem District police officers and the Jerusalem District’s special awareness operations center. During the investigation that was opened, Amira’s sermon at Al-Aqsa Mosque was located. In that sermon, he called for a holy war, or jihad, against Jews and cast doubt on the support efforts by Israeli Arabs for Gaza.
While the State of Israel was dealing with the consequences of the attack, the “elder of the inciters” chose to use his religious pulpit to explicitly call for joining the bloodshed and to instill fear among Israeli citizens. In his central sermon, which stood at the heart of his conviction at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court in early 2025, Amira addressed the masses and preached active participation in the fighting, using harsh and direct words: “Will you remain in your homes in humiliation? Then you will be partners with the Jews in their killing, or will you answer the call of glory in support of God?” The imam went on to demand that believers fight against the “filthy entity” and expressed support for the violent struggle.
At the same time, it should be noted that Amira’s security history is rich in previous incidents of incitement, including public praise for terrorism. Among them were remarks of praise he made in 2020 for the young Muslim of Chechen origin who beheaded French teacher Samuel Paty – an act that shocked France, but which Amira chose to call “a great honor for Muslims.”
