Israeli police said on Wednesday they had arrested the leader of a Nazareth mosque and another Arab citizen of Israel on suspicion of ties with militant groups.
Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP that Nazem Abu Slim and Mohammed Naarani, both from Nazareth, were "suspected of being involved in supporting terrorism," adding that the investigation was ongoing.
"All the rest of the details of the case are under a (court) gag order," he added.
Abu Slim is the outspoken imam of the Shihab al-Din mosque in Nazareth, Israel’s biggest Arab city, and is known for preaching a radical version of Islam hostile to Israel’s Jewish majority as well as Christians and moderate Muslims.
In June, police and the Shin Bet security agency arrested seven Israeli Arabs from the Nazareth area on suspicion of planning attacks against Jews and Christians.
The suspects, who were arraigned on charges including murder, kidnapping, assault and weapons offences, said they were inspired by the speeches of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Local media said the men attended the Shihab al-Din mosque.
The setting up of the mosque, a makeshift structure of tents, next to the Christian Basilica of the Annunciation in 2000 led to frictions between Islamic and Roman Catholic leaders.
During a 2009 visit to the city by Pope Benedict XVI Abu Slim and others from his Ansar Allah movement hung a banner saying "He is not welcome here."
They also issued statements attacking the pope for comments he made in 2006 depicting Islam as a violent religion.
Israel’s Arab citizens, who make up nearly 20% of the population, are Palestinians who remained in the Jewish state following the 1948 war that attended its creation as well as their descendants.