Arab Christian woman who sought to convert to Judaism arrested for aiding Hamas

Northern Israel resident Rania Dandan, 51, said she acted on Hamas’ behalf out of a desire to support “resistance against the State of Israel.”

By World Israel News Staff

An Israeli Arab Christian woman has been arrested for allegedly aiding the Hamas terror organization, authorities announced on Friday.

In a joint operation conducted by the Shin Bet security agency and the Coastal District of the Israel Police, Rania Dandan, a 51-year-old Israeli citizen and resident of the northern town of Kiryat Motzkin, was arrested several weeks ago on suspicion of “assisting the advancement of Hamas’ objectives,” authorities said.

During her interrogation, Dandan told investigators that she acted on Hamas’ behalf out of a desire to support “resistance against the State of Israel in the context of the ongoing war [in Gaza],” police and the Shin Bet said.

On Friday, Attorney Shikma Nechamias of the Haifa District Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Dandan with the Haifa District Court.

Among other things, Dandan is accused of helping Hamas operate a smear campaign against Israel online, aiding the terror group in disseminating anti-Israel propaganda and maintaining fake social media profiles which were used to spread false information and sow fear in Israeli society.

Dandan allegedly edited, translated, and administered content in multiple Telegram groups linked to Hamas.

Furthermore, Dandan is said to have helped Hamas hack into public display screens in Israel.

Years before her indictment, Dandan had tried to convert to Judaism, and she recalled her difficulties in an interview with the Walla news site.

Dandan said she decided to convert after she divorced her husband in 2006.

At the time, she was living in an apartment in a predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, and had become “enchanted” by her family-oriented, Sabbath-observant neighbors.

“I decided to convert to Judaism and start anew,” she told Walla.

Dandan reached out to a prominent rabbi, who advised her to live in a religious community for half a year before approaching the rabbinate conversion court in Haifa. He added that she should have the local rabbi accompany her to the court.

However, Dandan said that she was unable to find a community willing to take her in. She eventually enrolled in a conversion program linked to the Technion but claimed that the Haifa court rejected her petition to convert, saying she must first find a community to host her conversion efforts.

“Even though I explained to him that communities do not want to take me in, it did not help,” she told Walla.

“I told him I was willing to do anything, but I needed their support. I asked them to find a community and speak with a rabbi who would accept me for six months. He refused, and I left there deeply frustrated and in tears. It was extremely humiliating.”

Arab christiansArab IsraeliHamasIsraeli Arab