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Israeli Government Report Reveals a ‘Significant Penetration of Muslim Brotherhood Ideology’ Across Europe
General view of the hemicycle during the debate on the European resolution proposal of the DR group aiming to include the Muslim Brotherhood movement on the European list of terrorist organizations at the National Assembly in Paris France on Jan. 22, 2026. Photo: Sami Karaali / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect
Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism has published a new report detailing dozens of activists and organizations affiliated with the European wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, which researchers characterized as acting “autonomous” from its Middle East allies rather than under their direction.
“The Muslim Brotherhood operates in Europe through deceptive methods that project an outward appearance of moderation and pragmatism,” said Avi Cohen-Scali, director general of the ministry. “This front is used to advance dangerous ideological goals. Despite its external ‘moderation,’ the movement consistently rejects liberal democratic principles and Western values, which conflict with its radical aspirations — including efforts to Islamize Europe.”
Amichai Chikli, minister for diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, warned that “those who close their eyes today will pay tomorrow — with the security of their citizens and with Jewish lives.”
Founded in Egypt in 1928 by schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in response to the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate on March 3, 1924, the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to implement Islamic law across the entire planet by any means necessary. Operating as a secret society informed by 1930s fascist and communist revolutionary organizing methods, over the last 90 years the Brotherhood has embraced both violent terrorism and lawful political activity, the latter largely through the creation of front groups dubbed by German security as “legalist Islamists” (Legalisten).
The most influential Muslim Brotherhood-created terrorist group today is Hamas, perpetrator of the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, the deadliest massacre of Jews since the end of World War II.
The Israeli ministry names the primary threats posed by the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe as escalating incitement through aggressive organizing, radicalizing the Muslim community with extremist Koranic interpretations, supporting terrorist groups, platforming radical figures at events, and systemically delegitimizing Israel.
The report quotes a 2004 statement by Muhammad Akef, who served as the General Guide (Murshid) of the Brotherhood in Egypt from 2004 through 2010, explaining that the Brotherhood operates more by shared beliefs rather than a top-down command structure.
“We do not have an international organization; we have an organization through our perception of things (ideology). We are present in every country – wherever there are people who believe in the message of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Akef said. “In France, the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (MF/UOIF) does not belong to the Brotherhood organization. They operate according to their own laws and rules.”
Another figured cited to explain this strategy is Muhammad Habib, the former first deputy chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
“There are entities that exist in many countries across the world. These entities share the same ideology, principles, and objectives, but they operate under different circumstances and contexts,” he said in 2008. “Therefore, it is logical that there be decentralization in action, such that each entity operates in accordance with its own circumstances and the challenges it faces, and within its own framework.”
The report lays out a spider’s web of interlocking organizations described in a ministry release as showing a “significant penetration of Muslim Brotherhood ideology into European countries” which, alongside financial connections to terrorists, “poses a direct threat to Jewish communities.”
On Feb. 26, 2026, the Israeli Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism published a new report detailing the significant penetration of extremist ideology into terrorist organizations seeking to target Jewish communities across Europe. Map available here: https://embed.kumu.io/a3c1883e3bbd4ff775f3959eb3da5cf1#untitled-map
According to the ministry’s researchers, five organizations “form the core of the Muslim Brotherhood’s pan-European structure,” with each serving a different function and often sharing overlapping leadership.
The primary umbrella group is the Council of European Muslims (CEM), which was previously known as the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) until a 2020 rebrand led by Abdallah Ben Mansour, who had served as chairman of the group from 2014-2018 and again from 2022-2024. European intelligence officials quoted in the report stated that “in every European country, the organization that is a member of FIOE is the central body of the Muslim Brotherhood’s militia in that country.”
The second key Brotherhood body is the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), which is responsible for issuing Islamic legal rulings to guide Muslims residing in Europe for how to align Islamic law with their country’s civil law. The late Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi served as president of the council for more than 20 years. He was known for his support of Hamas and defense of suicide bombings, as well as for serving as the “spiritual leader” of the Brotherhood. France and the United Kingdom banned him from entry due to his advocacy of violent jihad.
The third pillar of the European Muslim Brotherhood is the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO), which French intelligence said in 2025 served as the CEM’s youth branch and provided a “training structure for potential senior figures within the Muslim Brotherhood.” Qatar provided more than one million Euros of funding since 2016.
Mahmoud Aldiba is an ex-member of the Brotherhood in Sweden who helped found the local youth network. The report quotes an open letter he wrote upon leaving the movement in which he reveals the deceitful tactics used to deceive naive Westerners.
“The problem is the dual message, which is the most damaging. They conduct official dialogue with Christian and Jewish groups, yet internally spread fear of them. They speak about democracy, but in practice do the opposite,” Aldiba wrote. “In official forums they speak about democracy to achieve objectives, but within the organization there is a deep aversion to democracy, equality, and freedom of expression.”
An example of this tactic named in the report was the hosting by the League of Muslims of Belgium of Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood leader Tareq Al-Suwaidan, author of an antisemitic book titled The Jews.
The fourth central organization operates as the continent’s seminary, the European Institute of Human Sciences (IESH). Qaradawi previously led the organization until his death on Sept. 26, 2022. The school has since replaced him with Mohamed Karmous, also a Brotherhood figure. Qatar has supplied millions in funding.
The report emphasizes the role of Qatari funding in fueling the Brotherhood’s network.
“Qatar’s relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood has been shaped through strategic ambiguity in its foreign policy: Qatar has cultivated close ties with Islamist networks associated with the movement while denying publicly giving them direct support,” the report states. “Despite these denials, Qatar provides political refuge and a political base for senior Hamas figures, including members of its political bureau. Additionally, Qatar uses the state-funded media network Al Jazeera to disseminate the movement’s ideology worldwide.”
The last “pillar” of the Islamist establishment in Europe is arguably its most vital. The Europe Trust provides the financial backing for the other organizations, operating a network of real estate investments to fund the activities of the other four.
The report details charitable groups too, such as the Union of Good (a network led by Qaradawi), Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), and the Al Aqsa Foundation. Israel banned IRW in June 2014 after intelligence reports linked the group to funding Hamas. The United Arab Emirates followed suit in December 2014, labeling the “charity” a terrorist organization while citing its relationship to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas as justification.
Another group emphasized in the report is Interpal, a British organization which both the United States and the United Kingdom designated as a terrorist entity. Ibrahim Hewitt, a convert to Islam, leads the group as chairman of the board of trustees. He has engaged in Holocaust denial and promoted Islamic extremism. Meanwhile, the organization’s director-general is Issam Youssef Mustafa, who a US Treasury report documented working on Hamas’s executive committee and with Qaradawi.
In 2021, an Austrian government report found that “although the Brotherhood is not involved in terrorism, its activity is legal but not legitimate – its objectives contradict democratic norms.” Other European countries’ intelligence services have come to similar conclusions.
“The Muslim Brotherhood is not a civil society movement; it is a conduit for extremism and terror in the heart of Europe,” Chikli said. “Behind a façade of ‘moderation’ lies a network tied to Hamas and foreign funding that destabilizes democracies from within. Europe must wake up.”
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Trump Wants Say on Iran’s Next Leader, Claims Tehran Calling US About a Deal
US President Donald Trump speaks on the day he honors reigning Major League Soccer (MLS) champion Inter Miami CF players and team officials with an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 5, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
US President Donald Trump claimed the right to join Iran in deciding its next leader as the war escalated on Thursday, with US and Israeli jets hitting areas across the country and Gulf cities coming under renewed bombardment.
In a phone interview with Reuters, Trump said Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – a hardliner who has been considered a favorite to succeed his father – was an unlikely choice.
“We want to be involved in the process of choosing the person who is going to lead Iran into the future,” he said.
Trump also encouraged Iranian Kurdish forces to go on the offensive.
“I’d be all for it,” said Trump, whose administration has had contact with Iranian Kurdish groups since the US-Israeli strikes began. He would not say whether the United States would provide air cover for any Kurdish offensive.
The attack is a major political gamble for the Republican president, with opinion polls showing little public support and Americans concerned about the rise in gasoline prices caused by disruption to energy supplies. Trump dismissed that concern.
He said later in the day that Tehran was reaching out to the United States about making a deal amid US and Israeli strikes on Iran, adding that further action to reduce pressure on oil was imminent.
“They’re calling, they’re saying ‘how do we make a deal?’ I said you’re being a little bit late,” said Trump, speaking at an event with the Inter Miami soccer team at the White House.
Trump touted the US military actions in Iran, saying they were destroying Tehran’s missile and drone capability and that “their navy is gone – 24 ships in three days,” as he called on Iranian diplomats to request asylum and help shape a better country.
“We also urge Iranian diplomats around the world to request asylum and to help us shape a new and better Iran,” he said.
ISRAELIS WARN TEHRAN RESIDENTS
On the war’s sixth day, Iran launched a series of attacks on Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Fire crews in Bahrain extinguished a blaze at a refinery following a missile strike.
Two drone attacks targeted an Iranian opposition camp in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as an oil field operated by an American firm, security sources said.
The Israeli military warned residents to evacuate areas including eastern Tehran, while Iranian media reported blasts were heard in various parts of the capital. An air attack killed 17 people in a guest house on a road northwest of the capital, Iranian state television said.
MANY MUNITIONS, IRAN‘S ATTACKS DROPPED
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads US forces in the Middle East, said that the US has enough munitions to continue its bombardment indefinitely.
“Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation,” Hegseth told reporters at Central Command headquarters in Florida. “Our munitions are full up and our will is ironclad.”
Cooper said the US had now hit at least 30 Iranian ships, including a large drone carrier that he said was the size of a World War Two aircraft carrier. He added that B-2 bombers had in the past few hours dropped dozens of 2,000 penetrator bombs targeting deeply buried ballistic missile launchers, and that bombings were also targeting Iran‘s missile production facilities.
Iran‘s ballistic missile attacks had decreased by 90% since the first day of the war, while drone attacks had decreased by 83% in that time frame, he said.
WARNING SIRENS BLARE IN MULTIPLE NATIONS
Azerbaijan on Thursday became the latest country drawn in, as it accused Iran of firing drones at its territory and ordered its southern airspace closed for 12 hours. Iran, which has a significant Azeri minority, denied it had targeted its neighbor, but the episode underlined how rapidly the war has spread since the surprise US and Israeli airstrikes that killed Khamenei on Saturday.
Along with the gleaming cities of the Gulf, in easy range of Iranian drones and missiles, Cyprus and Turkey have both been targeted. European nations have pledged to deploy ships to the eastern Mediterranean and hostilities have been seen as far afield as waters off Sri Lanka, where a US submarine sank an Iranian warship on Tuesday, killing 80 crew members.
In Iran, at least 1,230 people have been killed, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, including 175 schoolgirls and staff killed at a primary school in Minab in the country’s south on the first day of the war. Another 77 have been killed in Lebanon, its Health Ministry says. Thousands fled southern Beirut on Thursday after Israel warned residents to leave.
NETANYAHU SAYS ‘MUCH WORK STILL LIES AHEAD’
Shares on Wall Street fell on Thursday, weighed by surging oil prices, as the economic impact of the campaign intensified, with countries around the world cut off from a fifth of global supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas and air transport still facing chaos and global logistics increasingly snarled.
On Thursday, Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards said they had hit a US tanker in the northern part of the Gulf and the vessel was on fire, the latest of numerous reports of such attacks.
Visiting an air force base in the south of the country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s achievements so far in Iran had been “great” but that “much work still lies ahead.”
Iran‘s foreign minister said Washington would “bitterly regret” the precedent it had set by sinking a ship in international waters without warning. A commander of the Revolutionary Guards, General Kioumars Heydari, told state TV: “We have decided to fight Americans wherever they are.”
The body of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the first hours of the US-Israeli air campaign in the first assassination of a country’s top ruler by an airstrike, had been due to lie in state in a Tehran prayer hall from Wednesday evening to launch three days of mourning.
But the memorial, expected to draw many thousands of mourners to the streets, was abruptly postponed.
Two sources familiar with Israel’s battle plans said that Israel, having killed many Iranian leaders, was now planning to enter a second phase when it would target underground bunkers where Iran stores its missiles.
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Israel Decided to Kill Khamenei in November, Defense Minister Says
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias make statements to the press, at the Ministry of Defense in Athens Greece, Jan. 20, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Israel took the decision to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in November and was planning to carry out the operation around six months later, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday.
Khamenei was killed in the first hours of the US-Israeli air campaign that began on Saturday in the first assassination of a country’s top ruler by an airstrike.
The joint air assault is nearing the end of its first week after opening salvos killed the country’s leaders and set off a regional war, with Iranian attacks in Israel, the Gulf and Iraq, and Israeli attacks against Iran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Already in November we were convened with the prime minister in a very tight forum and the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] set the goal of eliminating Khamenei,” Katz told Israel‘s N12 TV news. The timing was set for mid-2026, he said.
The plan was eventually shared with the Washington and brought forward around January after protests broke out Iran, when Israel was concerned its pressured clerical rulers might launch an attack against Israel and US assets in the Middle East, Katz said.
Israel has said its aim is to eliminate the existential threat it sees in Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missile project, and to bring about regime change. Iran’s rulers have so far shown no sign of relinquishing power.
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China in Talks With Iran to Allow Safe Oil and Gas Passage Through Hormuz, Sources Say
An oil tanker unloads crude oil at a crude oil terminal in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, China, July 4, 2018. Picture taken July 4, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
China is in talks with Iran to allow crude oil and Qatari liquefied natural gas vessels safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz as the US-Israeli war on Tehran intensifies, three diplomatic sources told Reuters.
The war, which entered its sixth day on Thursday, has left the critical shipping passageway all-but shut, with countries around the world cut off from a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
China, which has friendly relations with Iran and relies heavily on Middle Eastern supplies, is unhappy about the Islamic Republic’s move to paralyze shipping through the Strait and is pressing Tehran to allow safe passage for the vessels, according to the sources.
The world’s second-largest economy gets about 45% of its oil from the Strait.
Ship tracking data showed a vessel called the Iron Maiden passed through the Strait overnight after changing its signaling to “China-owner,” but far more sailings will be needed to calm global markets.
Crude oil prices are up more than 15% since the conflict began amid production stoppages as Tehran attacks energy facilities in the Gulf as well as ships crossing the Strait.
Its missiles have also reached as far afield as Cyprus, Azerbaijan, and Turkey, destabilizing global markets and prompting major economies to warn about inflation risks.
Crude tanker transits through the strait fell to four vessels on March 1, the day after hostilities broke out, versus an average of 24 a day since January, Vortexa vessel-tracking data showed.
Around 300 oil tankers remain inside the Strait, according to Vortexa and ship tracker Kpler.
Sugar industry veteran Mike McDougall told Reuters that Middle East sugar executives say there are some ships transiting the Strait at the moment, all of which are either Chinese or Iranian-owned.
Jamal Al-Ghurair, the managing director of Dubai-based Al Khaleej Sugar, told Reuters some ships carrying sugar are currently allowed to pass through the Strait while others are not, without giving further details.
Iran‘s government said earlier in the week that no vessels belonging to the United States, Israel, European countries or their allies would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but the statement made no mention of China.