News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) The Islamic Movement group IKRA won more than 50 percent of the vote in the Arab student union elections in Tel Aviv University on Wednesday. The group was victorious in Arab student elections in Hebrew University two months earlier, and prior to that managed to oust Hadash to become the leading Arab party in Haifa University.

The Arab Student Union, which operates independently from the Student Union, has started the careers of several Israeli Arab politicians, including MKs Muhammed Barakeh and Azmi Bishara. IKRA activists described their Tel Aviv U win as “a big success” on Wednesday and said they had won because they were seen as trustworthy.

Some Israeli security experts have expressed concern over the presence of IKRA on Israeli campuses, saying the group’s goal is to spread radical Islam. According to senior Institute of Counter-Terrorism researcher Colonel (res.) Jonathan Fighel, the group is linked to Hamas, and its campus activities “create a terror-supporting atmosphere.”