08-07-2025
Dutch imam suspended after meeting Isaac Herzog in delegation to Israel
A Dutch imam has been suspended from his mosque after meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog as part of a delegation of Muslim figures from Europe visiting Israel.
Youssef Msibih, an imam at Bilal Mosque in the northern Dutch city of Alkmaar, was among a group of 15 Muslim preachers who met Herzog in Jerusalem on Monday.
During the meeting, Msibih sang a song that re-interpreted the Israeli national anthem in Arabic.
Bilal Mosque announced on Tuesday morning that Masbeh had been suspended 'with immediate effect'.
'Following recent political statements by the imam, the board has decided to suspend him with immediate effect,' the mosque said in a statement posted on its Instagram. 'As of this moment, the institution has no relationship with him.'
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The trip was organised by Elnet, an NGO that works to strengthen the relationship between Israel and Europe.
On Monday, the group visited Israel's parliament, as well as Muslim, Christian and Jewish sites located in the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem.
Later in the week, they will visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial centre, meet with the Israeli military's Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee, and visit the site of an Iranian ballistic missile impact in Tel Aviv.
The group will also visit the family members of Palestinian Bedouins who were held captive in Gaza, as well as members of the Syrian Druze community in the occupied Golan Heights whose family members were killed by suspected Hezbollah rocket fire.
'You represent the world of brotherhood, humanity, and liberty'. The words of Imam Hassen Chalghoumi from France to me today.
I was moved and inspired to meet him and a delegation led by @elnet_global of Imams and Muslim community leaders from across Europe. They stand bravely… — יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) July 7, 2025
'We are all children of Abraham, and I believe the historic progress in our region is a progress of dialogue - between Muslims and Jews, and Jews and Muslims,' Herzog told the group in Jerusalem on Monday.
'In the face of radical forces that try to block this progress and the true desire of Isaac and Ishmael to live together, there are other forces - growing stronger every day along the arc of history - that are advancing this vision,' he said, referring to the sons of Abraham, who are important figures in both Judaism and Islam.
Herzog was widely criticised in October 2023 for making a speech in which he stated: 'It's an entire nation out there that is responsible. This rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved - it's not true. They could've risen up, fought against that evil regime.'
The speech was seen as holding civilians in Gaza collectively responsible for the actions of Hamas. The comments were cited by South Africa in its case in January last year at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians.
Led by controversial French imam
The European Muslim delegation included figures from Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and France.
It was led by Hassen Chalghoumi, a controversial French imam.
'What we have witnessed since October 7 is not merely a conflict between Israel and Hamas, nor between Israel and Hezbollah - the so-called 'Party of Satan',' Chalghoumi told Herzog.
'Rather, it is a confrontation between two fundamentally different worlds. You represent the world of brotherhood, of humanity, of compassion. You stand for the values of democracy and liberty.'
Chalghoumi is the imam of Drancy mosque in Seine-Saint-Denis, in the Paris suburbs. The Tunisian-born preacher is known to have a close relationship with Israeli groups, and in 2019 visited the occupied West Bank at the invitation of Israeli settlers.
Earlier this year, he publicly called for a French-Palestinian member of the European parliament, Rima Hassan, to be stripped of her French nationality, accusing her of supporting terrorism.
Hassan called the imam 'illegitimate to represent Muslims in France', adding that it was 'high time the Muslims of France got rid of you for all the harm you've done to them'.
🇮🇱 Everyone advised me not to wear yellow pin in Al Aqsa due to my security but I refused.
I stand with Israeli hostages everywhere in the world so inside Al- Aqsa. Alhamdulillah @elnet_global — Noor Dahri - نور ڈاہری 🇬🇧 (@dahrinoor2) July 7, 2025
Also in the delegation was Noor Dahri, the founder of the UK-based organisation Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism.
Dahri is a regular contributor to the Times of Israel, and a member of the right-wing think tank the Henry Jackson Society. He posted several pictures of the trip on X, including visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Ali El-Darja, of Moroccan descent based in Italy's Turin, was also amongst the delegates.
'I already did my pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, and I was waiting to come to Jerusalem,' El Aarja told The Times of Israel.
