The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has called upon Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, who won presidential election as the Islamist, jihadist Muslim Brotherhood candidate, to condemn and repudiate remarks by the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Muhammad Badi’, who called this week for a jihad to destroy Israel and “liberate” Jerusalem from the Jews.

In a public message published by Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, Badi’ said that, “Zionists only understand the language of force and will not relent without duress … This will only happen through holy Jihad, high sacrifices and all forms of resistance. The day they realize we will march this path and raise the banner of Jihad for the sake of God, is the day they will relent and stop their tyranny … The time has come for the Islamic nation to unite around one man for the sake of Jerusalem and Palestine … The Jews have dominated the land, spread corruption on earth, spilled the blood of believers and in their actions profaned holy places, including their own” (Elhanan Miller, ‘‘‘Holy Jihad’ is the only way to deal with Israel, says Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood chief,’ Times of Israel, October 11, 2012)

In July 2010, Egypt’s Al Wafd newspaper reported that, “Muhammad Badi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide, confirmed the necessity for every Muslim to strive to save al-Quds [Jerusalem] from the hands of the rapists [Israelis] and to cleanse Palestine from the clutches of the occupation, deeming this an individual duty for all Muslims … [Badi] “called on all Muslims to wage jihad with their money and their selves to free al-Quds”—the same exact language one finds in al-Qaeda’s tracts. In September 2010, Badi’ spoke enthusiastically of jihad and called for a state based on Islamic law. He also spoke optimistically about the U.S. heading for a collapse. 

President Morsi resigned from the Brotherhood upon being elected president in May this year. He was however the Brotherhood’s official candidate for president and a veteran leader within the organization. Morsi has served previously as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Political Bureau since 1992, when the Bureau was first established, and also later the Muslim Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau. He is also a founding member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Committee to Fight the Zionist Project and has called Israel ‘the Zionist entity.’ 

As Islamic extremism expert Steve Emerson’s Investigative Project on Terrorism has observed, Morsi “has not disavowed … threatening statements from Badi’, his Brotherhood colleague. In a July sermon, after Morsi’s election, Badi’ said Muslims have a duty “to purify it from the hands of usurpers and cleanse Palestine from the clutches of the Occupation – that is an individual duty on all Muslims. They must wage Jihad with their money and lives and free it, and free its prisoners, male and female … and enable all of the displaced to return to their homeland, their homes, and their possessions” (‘MB Chief Calls for “Holy Jihad” Against Israel,’ Investigative Project blog, October 11, 2012). 

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “President Morsi must immediately and unequivocally condemn and repudiate Muhammad Badi’s vicious and blood-curdling call for jihad against Israel. Any failure to do so must of necessity been taken as signifying his agreement with the statements of the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidate Morsi was and in which he spent decades in senior leadership positions.

“We call upon President Obama to demand President Morsi publicly repudiate Badi’s despicable words.”