Sheikh Mohamed Mukhtar al-Mahdi. Photo: MEMRI TV.

An influential Egyptian sheikh has claimed that Egypt’s media is being run by Jews—and it’s not the first time he’s incited against them.

According to anonymous blogger Elder of Ziyon, Mohamed Mukhtar al-Mahdi, a professor at Al Azhar University in Cairo, “said that the Egyptian media is the main reason for Egypt’s political problems. His explanation is that the Egyptian media has become recently fallen into the hands of the Jews, and its slander and lies are part of the of the Zionist plan to demolish the country, as well as turn people against Islam.”

A recent video of Mukhtar al-Mahdi published by the Middle East Media Research Institute captures the cleric making a speech at Al-Azhar University in Cairo in May in which he refers to Jews as the Muslims’s “worst enemies.”

The transcript is posted below (courtesy of MEMRI TV):

Muhammad Al-Mukhtar Al-Mahdi: The Islamic nation, which is the guardian of Truth, must be aware of the conspiracies of Falsehood, and of the snares of those who lie in wait. Allah has taught [Muslims] that their worst enemies are those about whom He said: “You shall find the Jews and the polytheists to be the most hostile towards the believers” [Koran 5:82]. Thus, Allah made Jihad for His sake and endurance of pain and hardship effective means to fight the people of Falsehood…”

“The confrontation [with the Jews] is inevitable. Our Prophet does not lie. He told us that there would be a confrontation between the Muslims and the Jews before the Day of Judgment, and that the Muslims would vanquish them to the point that the Jews would hide behind the stones and the trees, but the stones and the trees would say: “Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” Prepare for that day, for it will surely arrive, because the divine revelation harbors no lies.”

Watch a video of the speech below: