Sheikh Raed Salah is head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. He is widely respected in the Islamic world as a religious leader. From 1989 to 2001, Salah also served as the Mayor of Umm Al-Fahm, an Israeli-Arab city. He is frequently arrested and imprisoned by the Israeli government and, in February 2020, a court in Israel sentenced Salah to 28 months in prison for “inciting to terror”, much of which was spent in solitary confinement. In December 2021, he was released from prison after having served 16 months of his sentence.