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Palestinian NGOs: Human rights workers or agents of terror?
Two divergent narratives emerged in the wake of the decision. In one reality resides Gantz, the Defense Ministry and pro-Israel NGOs, subscribed to the reality that long-ignored terrorist activity cynically cloaked in the guise of human rights has finally been unmasked.
The other narrative considers the six NGOs to be human rights organizations and considers the designation to be a draconian attack on Palestinian civil society.
On one side, you have Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg, president and founder of NGO Monitor, who says: “There’s no justification for not considering or ignoring or overlooking the terrorist connections. These are not trivial. People – Israelis – have been killed.”
Gerald M. Steinberg (credit: Courtesy)On the other side, there’s Samer Sinijlawi, chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund and Fatah activist from Jerusalem, who says: “It’s just a blind war against all voices that are criticizing the occupation and the abuse of the human rights of the Palestinians.”
Which reality is true? Is Israel trying to suppress Palestinian civil society, or is it a legitimate grievance against terrorist organizations? After reviewing the importance of the NGOs and their terrorism connections, where one falls seems to be a matter of priorities.
PFLP affiliation
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Marxist military group recognized as a terrorist group by most of the Western world.
Israel claims that Addameer, Al-Haq, Bisan Center, Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC) are part of a PFLP terrorist network that recruits, provides legitimacy to operatives, and serves as a leadership wing for the PFLP. They’ve been accused of funneling funding to terrorism through forgery, laundering, and the awarding of stipends to the families of terrorists.
The government hasn’t provided much information to prove its allegations. But little has been done to dispute them other than to note the groups’ statuses as human rights NGOs. This leaves everyone else to make sense of the diverging realities. The NGOs have rejected the claims, but groups like NGO Monitor assert that there is enough open source documentation to prove that the only thing under attack is terrorism.
Al-Haq
Established in 1979 and based in Ramallah, Al-Haq is an award-winning NGO with connections with dozens of international human right bodes, which describes itself as a human rights NGO that “documents violations of the individual and collective rights of Palestinians.”
Al-Haq was the first NGO that drew Steinberg’s suspicion of PFLP connections, “and in many ways is the most significant, of the ones that were recently designated as terrorist organizations,” he said.
“Al-Haq is headed by Shawan Jabarin, who sat in Israeli jail for a while, was convicted of being an activist member of the PFLP,” said Steinberg. “The court ruled that he is a human rights worker by day and a terrorist official by night.”
According to NGO Monitor, in 2018, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express shut down online donations to Al-Haq due to PFLP ties.
Al-Haq asserted in a statement that the “baseless allegations” seek “to delegitimize, oppress, silence” Palestinian NGOs. It argued that the decision is not based on security concerns, but comes due to “the opening of an International Criminal Court investigation.”
Sinijlawi finds it suspicious that “these organizations are leading the procedure in the ICC, where Gantz himself is the main target because he has been the chief of staff in 2014.”
DCI-P
Founded in 1991, DCI-P is a Palestinian child rights organization that provides legal support to Palestinian minors in the Israeli and military court systems.
“We reject the recent designation as another unjust action by Israeli authorities to criminalize and eliminate our lawful human rights and child protection work,” said Khaled Quzmar, general director of Defense for Children International – Palestine. “When years of delegitimization and disinformation campaigns against us have failed to silence our work, Israeli authorities now choose to escalate repressive tactics by labeling civil society organizations as terrorists.”
“We’ve identified five or six different people at different levels of the organization that had been active in the PFLP,” said Steinberg. “One in particular was the coordinator of DCI-P’s Community Mobilization Unit, Hashem Abu Maria.”
Abu Maria was killed in a clash with the IDF in 2014 and, according to NGO Monitor, was called “a leader” by PFLP.
The designation is not the first time that DCI-P has faced charges of terrorism. Citibank and Arab Bank PLC reportedly ceased providing services to DCI-P over PFLP links in 2018.
Addameer
The Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, established in 1991, works and advocates for Palestinians in Israeli prisons, “offers free legal aid to political prisoners,” and runs social campaigns.
“They defend mostly PFLP, the people who are accused in the Israeli legal process,” Steinberg noted.
“The designations represent an unprecedented & ominous attempt by the Israeli occupying authorities to silence and criminalize Palestinian CSOs that challenge Israel’s prolonged military occupation,” Addameer tweeted.
According to Steinberg, Addameer “have a number of staff members who are connected to PFLP. The founder, (Abdul-Latif Ghait) was a member and activist. The former vice chairman… Khalida Jarrar… she is defined as the head of the PFLP operations in the West Bank.” NGO Monitor claims to have identified at least five other PFLP members in Addameer’s ranks.
Bisan Center
The Bisan Center for Research and Development specializes in socioeconomic rights and community engagement.
“It should be noted that Bisan Center for Research and Development is an independent, nonpartisan center that is not affiliated with any political entity,” Bisan said in a statement on its Facebook page.
“This announcement [of the terrorist designation] comes after concerted efforts in the Israeli occupation’s attempts in a defamation campaign led by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” it continued.
“The most recent [Bisan] executive director… was sentenced for 12 months for recruiting activists,” said Steinberg.
Ataraf Rimawi, identified by NGO Monitor as Bisan’s previous executive director, was noted in a court ruling as a “PFLP member” who “posed a security threat.”
UPWC
The UPWC is “a progressive mass feminist organization that was established in 1980,” according to its website.
“And they have five individuals that we’ve identified on the payroll as PFLP people,” said Steinberg. “One of the founders of the PFLP… was the president of the UPWC. So again, the connection there is pretty strong between [the UPWC and] the PFLP.”
Israel is not the first to identify UPWC as a PFLP arm. In 2015, Fatah identified the UPWC as a PFLP affiliate, as did USAID in 1993.
UAWC
Among the largest agricultural institutions in Palestinian society, UAWC was established in 1986 to promote Palestinian agricultural development.
“They run agricultural projects in Gaza and in the West Bank,” said Steinberg. “And that’s their excuse. That’s the justification for the large amounts of funding. They get millions from many different European countries.”
“UAWC rejects and condemns Israel’s unsubstantiated allegations directed at UAWC and the other NGOs, which are politically motivated. It is telling that the Israeli government refuses to release any ‘evidence’ substantiating these allegations,” the NGO told The Jerusalem Post.
“We have identified seven [PFLP-affiliated] individuals that have various positions [in UAWC],” said Steinberg. “A number of them have been sentenced in Israel, and, of course, Samir Arbid is standing trial; he was their accountant.”
Arbid and Razak Farraj, another UAWC member, were arrested for their roles in the 2019 terrorist attack that killed Rina Schnerb.
“There are hundreds of employees who have worked and continue to work at UAWC and thousands of volunteers,” said a UAWC representative. “UAWC, like any other organization, is not responsible for any individual action of any former and current employees.”
“We should not forget that Arbid and Farraj have been exposed to horrifying torture to pressure them to give confessions,” said the representative.
As with UPWC, Fatah and USAID documented that UAWC is a PFLP affiliate. NGO Monitor has further noted that due to Arbid’s and Farraj’s affiliations, the Netherlands suspended funding to the organization.
The UAWC representative asserted that the funding was suspended only because of “NGO Monitor’s large incitement campaigns against UAWC.”
The representative dismissed the USAID designation, saying that the USAID “report [in which UAWC was designated a PFLP affiliate] was published before the arrival of the Palestinian Authority, and it is a report that talks about the beginnings of UAWC and its work, which was all voluntary.”
A few bad eggs?
The main evidence for proponents of the designation doesn’t come from the government, but from NGO investigations showing overlap of PFLP members within civil society.
Sinijlawi argues that there are a few flaws in perceiving NGOs as terrorist organizations based on a few individuals.
The NGO could be unaware it has terrorists in its ranks. “I don’t think that, by law, any NGO needs to get a security clearance for any person to get employed. If somebody submits the CV and he’s qualified for a job, he gets it.”
Even if the NGOs were aware, while some countries do not differentiate between military and political wings, these NGOs may have.
“There could be a military wing inside the Popular Front, but it does not mean that every student activist… is involved in a certain type of violence or military action.”
While some of the NGOs may have had violent actors, “it does not mean that this organization is totally involved into terrorism,” said Sinijlawi. “To blame the whole people because of someone related directly or indirectly to these NGOs… it’s a trick that anybody will buy.”
“It’s not just that they’re members… it’s high-level staff,” said Steinberg, dismissing that it’s a few bad eggs – “in some cases, the heads of the organization, the people who control the money.”
Besides the pattern of NGO employees being PFLP operatives, Steinberg noted, PFLP/NGO activists often hold multiple positions in different NGOs, including in umbrella organizations.
“There’s a broader framework called PNGO, Palestinian NGO umbrella Organization. These organizations are all members of the PNGO, and the head of the PNGO generally has been a PFLP official.”
NGO or terrorism?
“What does anybody mean by Palestinian ‘civil society,’ particularly when these organizations are very clearly part of a network which is not just terrorists, but it’s also part of the PLO structure?” Steinberg asks. “What makes these organizations civil society?”
The NGOs “are very important for Palestinians,” said Sinijlawi. The designation is tantamount to “shutting down the democratic dynamics inside Palestinian society.”
On its part, PFLP has not disputed its connection to the NGOs.
PFLP political bureau’s Kayed al-Ghoul has said that Palestinians are “proud of the affiliation of any of their sons with any national faction that resists the occupation, including the” PFLP.
The negative reaction to the terrorism designations shows how important these organizations are to Palestinians and their allies.
Years of terrorist activity in the midst of Palestinian NGOs shows that when it comes to terrorists in their ranks, the prevailing sentiment in the response from the international community, Palestinian activists, and international bodies is that you need to break a few bad eggs to make an omelet. The two realities may not be so irreconcilable. The NGOs and the terrorist groups are interconnected, and while Palestinian civil society may be under attack – that may also be legitimate.•
An American-Irish citizen who traveled to Lebanon and Syria in an attempt to join the Hezbollah terrorist organization and fulfill his desire to kill Jews was arrested on Monday for making false statements to FBI agents, the Western District of Pennsylvania US Attorney’s Office announced.
Jack Danaher Molloy, 24, had converted to Shia Islam in February and traveled to Lebanon in August. According to an affidavit, Molloy was in contact with several individuals who sought to help him with his quest to join the terrorist organization.
Molloy had difficulty in enlisting with Hezbollah because he didn’t know Arabic, and the terrorist organization wasn’t recruiting foreigners during the October 7 War with Israel in the wake of intelligence failures like the September pager bomb attacks.
Molloy told an associate that he had been “told very politely that Hezb isn’t recruiting anymore” because “They can’t even trust Lebanese at this point” because of “too many security breaches.”
Contact warned him that his attempts to join might “escalate” to the point of him being suspected of being a Mossad agent.
“There are a lot of divisions you can apply for, but right now, they are not recruiting, they’re not accepting anyone, and due to the high number of Mossad agents and moles, appearing inside, sadly, so it’s gonnatake a while,” one contact told Molloy.
Molloy was also advised that boot camps and recruiting had been disrupted and that when the current “circumstances” were over, it would take three to four months before the group was organized enough to reopen to recruits.
Beginning training at a ‘young age’
An associate explained that Hezbollah operatives started with the organization at a “very young age,” going on to train at several different locations before being asked if they wished to become official members in the Shiite group’s military force. Joining Foreign brigades was difficult, requiring current members to vouch for him.
On October 9 Molloy went to Syria to join Hezbollah or another militia, but was told that the dynamics between armed groups in Syria made it “not very ethical” to join some Syrian resistance factions “due to the things that happened in Syria.”
Around this time, he told his mother that he was considering joining the Russian forces fighting against Ukraine in order to earn money, but he answered in the affirmative when his mother asked if his “master plan” was ” to join Hezbollah and kill Jews.”
On October 14, Molloy left Syria to return to the United States, assured by contacts that he would likely be able to join Hezbollah next year. Molloy landed at Pittsburgh International Airport on October 20, where he was questioned by FBI agents and lied about his intentions to join a US State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization.
Molloy told an associate that he had enrolled with the Iran-based online Al-Mustafa Open University, knowing its connection to Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the affidavit, the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the university in 2020 because its branches facilitate IRGC Quds Force recruitment of international students.
Molloy, who had previously joined the American Reserve Officers’ Training Corps for two months, believed that his Irish background informed his hatred of Zionists and respect for Hezbollah.
The Irish and Hezbollah?
In October, he posted on X that “We Irish love Hezbollah, and personally, they were a major influence in me reverting to Islam and moving to Lebanon.”
“To me, I am continuing the fight my great-grandmother fought against the Zionists, but now Islamically,” he said to someone using Google Translate. “I have a very fierce hatred of these Zionists, and I need to fight…I have thought about this every moment of every day since I was 18, for 7 years now.”
Molloy’s computer and phone contained violent jihadist and Nazi images, including some depicting the execution of Jewish stereotypes. In one image, a character marked with a Nazi swastika shot a Jewish stereotype cartoon, and a similar representation of a Jew on his knees with a red inverted triangle above his head was shot execution-style in the back of his head.
One image on Molloy’s device depicted a Nazi SS soldier and a Jihadi with the slogan “one struggle” in English and Arabic. Another picture displayed Hezbollah fighters performing a Roman salute with the fusion of a Nazi and Lebanese flag in the backdrop. On the anniversary of October 7, Molloy created an email account called “k**ekiller696969” and, in 2019, used the address “glassofjuice88.” The latter phrase is a homophone for “Gas the Jews,” and the number “88” is a reference to a neo-Nazi numerical code for “Heil Hitler.”
The US Attorney’s Office said that Molloy faces the possibility of both a sentence of up to eight years in prison or a $250,000 fine.
On Sunday, I returned to The Jerusalem Post after being drafted as an IDF reservist for almost 80 days for my second tour of duty in Gaza since the October 7 Massacre. My anecdotal experience as an infantryman and perspective as a journalist in civilian life has given me a unique perspective on Gaza war issues, familiar and unexplored alike. These ten takeaways from someone who has been in the mud of the battlefield should be considered by policymakers and citizens in which much of the information about the war is second-hand information and hearsay.
1. The IDF is winning, and needs to be allowed to win
Compared to their operations during my first tour at the end of 2023, a sense that Hamas is collapsing has since developed. The terrorist organization once fielded ambush cells that conducted frequent hit-and-run anti-tank missile attacks and ambushes from a wide network of bunkers and tunnels for a guerilla defense in depth strategy.
Almost a year later, Hamas seems unable to operate on a strategic level, even from areas in which its battalions have remained structurally intact or reconstituted from degraded units. This is exemplified by Hamas’ inability to launch targeted reprisals for the death of military leaders, or even attempt traditional attacks on Jewish holidays or the anniversaries of October 7.
By and large, they do not operate at night or the light of day, clinging even closer to the low visibility of dawn and dusk, whereas their operatives would once more openly operate in daylight hours due to being able to escape underground after an attack. It appears that their tunnel networks have been greatly compromised, as they have had to travel along roads and weave between buildings.
Their legitimate operations focus on IED and lone sniper attacks rather than using heavier munitions, but a greater focus has been filming any engagement so that they can edit the footage so they can claim to foreign supporters and Israeli citizens that they have destroyed Israeli vehicles. Stealing humanitarian aid has apparently not been enough for some Hamas battalions, as in one case they have resorted to sending plainclothes operatives to loot food and supplies from abandoned IDF positions. Their mortar bombs fall far less accurate than they once were, and we did not encounter any enemy drone activity.
The Netzarim security corridor seems relatively safe, with paved roads, and outposts enjoying electricity provided by power lines. While many soldiers left Gaza positive about the IDF’s advancements, the path of victory is long and the journey should not be confused with its destination. Many soldiers have mixed their sense of Hamas’s significant degradation with the feeling that the military is being held back from decisive action, entering and leaving areas to allow Hamas to retain territorial control.
2. Gaza has suffered heavy damage
The extent of the damage to infrastructure hasn’t been completely appreciated by the general public, and Israeli and international leaders will need to develop extensive plans to rebuild the territory. Whole neighborhoods have been leveled during direct combat, the search and destruction of tunnels and booby traps, and the establishment of defensible positions.
If buildings have not been damaged by their proximity to explosives or pocked by suppressive fire, they have had their outer walls shaved away to reveal the possible presence of terrorists. Concrete rubble and trash are strewn along wide fields in the Gaza Strip and will need to be collected and moved before some areas are traversable, let alone livable. The IDF Spokespeople will also need to prepare to explain the extensive damage to civilian infrastructure.
3. Gaza was far from an ‘open-air prison’
One of the great shames about the extensive damage to Gazan infrastructure is that it was not the desolate “open-air prison” that it had been advertised as in anti-Israel propaganda.
While there certainly were residents living in desperate conditions, the houses, apartments, and villas that we cleared and took position had a decent and even opulent quality of life. All the homes we saw had televisions, computers, refrigerators, decorations, and food stores in line with an Israeli suburb. Our impression was not one of squalor, but normal conditions.
In rural areas villas and mansions oversaw sweeping vineyards on one side and a view of the ocean on the other, and in urban areas large schools, restaurants and other facilities. The lost potential and degraded conditions in Gaza make Hamas’s decision to attack Israel and weaponize their territory rather than develop what they held a shame all the greater.
4. Hamas weaponized Gaza
Much has been said about Hamas’s use of civilians as shields to deter IDF operations — A detained civilian told our troops that he was unable to travel from the North to South along humanitarian corridors because he had to bribe Hamas operatives who were bent on keeping civilians around them as cover. Yet the civilians are just one aspect of Hamas turning Gaza into a weapon to try to destroy Israel.
Tunnel networks are not just placed around or under civilian objects, terrorist infrastructure is integrated into civilian infrastructure in a way that makes the two indistinguishable. Civilian homes are turned into lookout and reconnaissance outposts, with members of families hired by terrorist organizations to provide intelligence, as was exemplified by the capture of spotters captured by a neighboring battalion. Armories are hidden within houses, to be accessed by plainclothes terrorists when they have the need to shed the veneer of being civilians.
Tunnel entrances can be found in the first floor of apartment buildings, not just in their backyards. Other homes are booby-trapped, leading to widespread suspicion of each home as being laced with explosives. With Gaza being weaponized in such a fashion, it has led military units to take precautions and actions that damage buildings and homes so that they can stay alive.
5. The IDF is not conducting a genocide
The purpose of our operations were not geared toward the elimination of Gazan civilians. There were never orders to kill civilians wantonly, and there were debates on if we had enough information to use deadly force and when it was legitimate to open fire. Civilians were allowed to pass by our positions along humanitarian corridors unmolested. These elements would not be found among a force that is devoted to mass murder or genocide. Civilian casualties are tragic, and unfortunately, they always occur in war, which is why such conflict should be avoided in the first place.
6. The IDF needs to restore discipline
While IDF soldiers are not engaged in mass war crimes or genocide, there is inappropriate and even criminal behavior. Other soldiers have shared with me stories of when they have seen looting, and I had to stop someone who had been temporarily attached to our battalion from taking a necklace from a house. While my battalion did not bring our cellphones into Gaza until our last week, when we were moved back to a rearguard outpost, we have seen the widespread use of phones by other neighboring units.
This is all the more shocking not just because posting on social media can be used by enemies to geo-locate positions and gather intelligence, but the violent machismo and inappropriate fooling around in videos and photographs discredits the moral legitimacy of the military and creates an overly relaxed and familiar environment that can get people killed. While journalists have to answer to the IDF censor, it felt to many of us that the IDF has done little to crack down on soldiers who are acting as poor spokespeople and even documenting what appear to be crimes.
Even small issues such as unsanctioned edgy uniform patches lead to a breakdown in discipline, which may lead to even greater behavior unbecoming of the IDF’s ethics. IDF leadership seems unwilling to want to deal with the overly involved families and loss of manpower that comes with disciplining inappropriate behavior.
7. Trust has been eroded in military leadership
The failures of the October 7 Massacre have led to a distrust of military brass among many soldiers and reservists that I have spoken to. It has become a common refrain among the ranks to not trust anyone above the rank of a battalion commander.
High-ranking officers are viewed critically as out-of-touch “October 6” officers who care more about the advancement of their careers through checking task boxes on their clipboards rather than actually changing the reality on the ground.
Reservists and mandatory soldiers alike are results-oriented, and if they feel that officers are more focused on satisfying their superiors rather than the realities on the ground, their orders will have less validity. Military brass, like the political leadership, need to prove to their men that their sacrifices for victory will not be in vain.
8. Reservists are frustrated with domestic squabbles
As news broke that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, fierce debate broke out in the company about the legitimacy of the move. While Netanyahu’s camp claimed that there were professional differences over strategy that could not be overcome, and that the prosecution of the war required Gallant’s firing, too much suspicion and bad blood had been developed about political plays within the current government.
Many believe that the move was done to save the coalition because ultra-orthodox parties threatened to leave because of Gallant’s work towards drafting haredi youth. Such suspicions have been informed by some politicians continuing to pursue their prior political interests, such as major judicial reform proponents calling to renew the process.
While Israeli soldiers are fighting and dying, they don’t feel that politicians are with them and take the war seriously. This distrust extends to the opposition as well — with many of the same actors that were involved in the anti-reform camp pushing for hostage deals at varying cost, many soldiers have expressed to me that they can’t help to wonder if they are motivated by the good of the nation or their own political agendas.
9. The IDF needs more soldiers
As the war and debate about who has drafted has continued, reservists have become increasingly frustrated that some demographic groups are benefitting from the blood and toil of reservists while not contributing to the endeavor themselves. My battalion deputy commander and company commander have become involved in movements calling for a more equal draft.
The need for an increased draft comes as current reservists face multiple tours and are pushed off retirement. Our battalion saw a drop off in reenlistment as some reservists had to deal with crumbling families, businesses, and health. Many reservists came despite these challenges — the sacrifices that they have made are beyond just the risk of death and injury.
10. Soldiers deserve victory
The sacrifices that were made by reservists and mandatory soldiers were made under the implicit promise that they would be in exchange for victory. The state has to consider in its policies and strategic decisions not just the feelings of hostage families and residents who have to return home but also those who have willingly given everything for them and the state.
Reservists want resolution to the problems that led to October 7, they don’t want this war to become yet another round in ongoing conflict. While we will continue to fight for Israel, we don’t want to have to come back to Gaza and Lebanon in a few years time — for not just our sake, but also for that of all Israelis and Palestinians.
Three soldiers became the latest targets of anti-Israel organizations seeking to doxx and level legal challenges against Israeli servicemen abroad.
The Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) called for the arrest of three Nahal Brigade soldiers for alleged war crimes after they entered the Netherlands on Thursday. The March 30 Movement branch submitted a complaint the same day, charging that the Granite battalion soldiers had been involved in operations in which Gazan homes were burned and the Rafah crossing was damaged without any military necessity.
The disruption of the Rafah crossing constricted the flow of aid in an act of “weaponized famine,” the group said.
The three soldiers were named on social media, and their pictures were shared by the foundation. The doxxing came days after the group filed a complaint to the International Criminal Court against a soldier and called for his arrest while he was visiting the United Arab Emirates.
Many of the foundation’s accusations do not list specific actions by soldiers but place them within Gaza or the West Bank during operations.
Other allegations and doxxing, such as those against an Israeli reservist officer who had to flee Cyprus in mid-November, are based on video and photographs posted by the soldiers on social media. Ynet reported that the officer coordinated his departure from the country with the Israeli Foreign Ministry after the HRF called on Cypriot officials to arrest him over two videos in which he allegedly burned and called to destroy Gazan civilian objects.
Following the November 21 ICC issuance of arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, the foundation called on the international body to also issue warrants against 1,000 IDF soldiers listed in an October 8 dossier it filed to the ICC.
The HRF claimed that it had gathered 8,000 pieces of documentation detailing the destruction of infrastructure, occupation of civilian homes, looting, participating in a blockade of Gaza, and targeting civilians. The documentation reportedly included soldiers boasting “about their war crimes on social media, sharing photos and videos of their participation in the destruction and occupation of Palestinian homes and properties.”
Some of the soldiers had dual citizenship, including 12 French, 12 American, four Canadian, three British, and two Dutch citizens.
More than one group targeting Israeli soldiers
The HRF is not the only group doxxing IDF soldiers who have participated in the war.
The Israel Genocide Tracker X/Twitter account, which has over 160,000 followers, shares the names and pictures of soldiers who had allegedly been in Gaza. Many of those identified by the account are dual-nationals, such as an American-Israeli Golani Reconnaissance battalion sniper doxxed on Saturday.
“We firmly believe that every soldier who entered Gaza is complicit in the genocide,” the group said in a social media post last Monday, defending their operations from those arguing that the account’s posts interfered in ongoing legal and journalistic investigations.
“We will soon release comprehensive lists of soldiers’ names to support international legal actions. We are already collaborating with various human rights organizations that rely on our data to pursue justice.”
Telegram channels published a file allegedly containing the personal information of several thousand soldiers and security officials last Sunday.
The viability of the legal cases against these soldiers is unclear, according to legal experts, with the main objective being the intimidation of IDF soldiers.
Universal jurisdiction
NGO Monitor legal adviser Anne Herzberg said that it is difficult to know if individual cases are actionable without knowing their specifics, but there was concern that courts in countries with weak judicial systems and inadequate due process could be exploited, and warrants could be issued based on “flimsy evidence” and “no advance notice.”
“Anti-Israel NGOs have pushed universal jurisdiction cases against Israeli military and government officials for years as a complement to their lobbying for ICC proceedings,” said Herzberg.
“The shift by these groups to the targeting of thousands of lower-ranking dual-national Israelis has two purposes. First, these cases are about generating negative PR – to internationally tarnish the IDF by delegitimizing and criminalizing IDF service. The second purpose is to deter dual nationals from serving in the IDF for fear they might be subject to criminal proceedings if they return to their countries of origin.
“This second purpose constitutes a military and national security threat and should be taken very seriously by both Israeli and Western officials. It should come as no surprise that several of these NGOs have links to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, or other terror organizations.”
International Legal Forum CEO Arsen Ostrovsky said that these lawfare campaigns were “entirely without merit and no more than political stunts” but noted that “given the changing political climate and growing hostility against Israel in some parts of Europe, there is no guarantee that some countries will not entertain this charade in the future.”
“As a response to this growing threat, Israel should consider adopting a US-style American Service-Members’ Protection Act, which authorizes the use of all means necessary to secure the release of American soldiers and persons taken captive by, on behalf, or at the request of the International Criminal Court, in this case being equally applicable if IDF soldiers (or former soldiers) were detained on the instructions of the ICC and/or individual countries,” said Ostrovsky.
“The United States, which is currently putting a devastating sanctions framework [together] against the ICC over their issuing of arrest warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, should sanction any country that not only seeks to apply the ICC warrants but takes individual actions to arrest IDF soldiers.
“And lastly, Israel should also make it a priority to sign bilateral immunity agreements with other countries, acknowledging the independence of Israel’s judicial system and undertaking not to arrest any IDF soldiers, whether current or former, thereby allowing Israelis the ability to travel freely, without fear of arrest.”
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