Exposed: European-funded Israeli NGO supports terrorists, provides legal aid

Through secretly recorded conversations, a watchdog group learned how a left-wing NGO is actively supporting the families of convicted terrorists.

By World Israel News Staff

A left-wing Israeli NGO is providing active support to terrorists, including free legal counsel, advocating for them against house demolitions and arranging family visits to incarcerated murderers of Israelis, a watchdog group recently found.

HaMoked, also known as the Center for the Defense of the Individual, receives nearly all of its funding from European governments and left-wing organizations.

An in-depth investigation by right-wing NGO Ad Kan, which aired on Channel 14, revealed a number of disturbing revelations about the organization and how it operates.

In secretly recorded conversations, members of Ad Kan learned how HaMoked is actively supporting the families of convicted terrorists, including those who were complicit in their relatives’ attacks.

The family of Ashraf Naalwa, who killed two Israelis in the Barkan industrial park in 2018, told Ad Kan that HaMoked had provided them with free legal aid aimed at stopping the demolition of their family home.

HaMoked also assisted the family in obtaining permission to visit a relative held by security forces after the attack, they said. Notably, Naalwa’s family was aware of his intentions to carry out the deadly shooting and his mother was convicted of failing to prevent a terror attack.

There were multiple incidences of HaMoked supporting families that were clearly complicit in terror attacks, Ad Kan found.

Ad Kan discovered that over an 11-year period, HaMoked was gifted some $20 million by the United Nations and European Union, as well as the governments of France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium.

The remainder of HaMoked’s funding comes from the New York-based New Israel Fund, which provides financing for left-wing organizations in Israel and supports an organization behind the current mass protests against judicial reform.

Israeli lawmakers responded to the Ad Kan exposé, saying that the findings were outrageous.

“Imagine for a moment a father or mother who lost their daughter or son in a terrorist attack, the most precious thing to them. Now imagine these parents standing in court in front of the terrorist who murdered their loved ones, and the [terrorist] is being represented by an Israeli organization,” wrote Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Religious Zionism) on Twitter.

“Unfortunately, this is the reality. Ad Kan’s exposé… is shocking and worrying.”

“It is ridiculous how a small, extremist and anti-Israel organization which is funded by foreign governments causes the security and legal systems to change policies and undermine security,” said MK Ariel Kalner (Likud.)

“Ad Kan’s exposé on HaMoked shows how important it is to act against foreign political interference. The lobby for the fight against delegitimization under my leadership will act on the matter with all the tools at our disposal.”