After years of complaints, investigations, and publications about the ties of the Islamic Ra’am party and its many associations to the terror organization Hamas, a Tel Aviv District Court judge on Tuesday issued a dramatic ruling that substantiated suspicions of terrorist financing and Hamas connections on the part of Ra’am’s charity association “Aid 48,” whose senior officials are also Ra’am’s senior officials, Hakol Hayehudi’s Elchanan Groner reported Tuesday morning.
District Judge Limor Zahava Bibi rejected the petition of the Aid 48 charity for temporary relief against Bank Leumi which blocked the association’s account on suspicion of terrorist financing. The judge also ordered 48 to pay court costs ($4,000).
The judge ruled that the bank presented sufficient evidence, and relied in large part on the investigations of the Jewish Voice publication as well as the Zionist groups Choosing Life and Ad Kan.
In February, Groner reported that the Ra’am party and its flagship association, Aid 48, are neck-deep in ties with the Hamas-affiliated Turkish association Khyar Ommah, and are inciting terrorism in a summer camp operated by Ra’am members and the Islamic movement (Exposed: Islamic Party Ra’am Collaborates with Hamas Group in Turkey).
According to Israeli prosecutors, Aid 48 senior officials who are close to Ra’am Chairman MK Mansour Abbas, worked closely with Hamas operatives, including one operative who tried to guide an attack on an Elbit security plant.
The affair was revealed in a February 11 indictment against Rami Habibullah, a teacher from the village of Ein Mahal in Galilee. According to the indictment, following the start of the fighting in the Gaza Strip, Habibullah offered Hamas operatives abroad his services in promoting terrorist activities in Israel. He sent a Hamas operative a photo of a security plant in his area of residence, with its exact location, to help Hamas fire rockets at this plant.
According to the indictment, Habibullah also transferred large sums of money to Khyar Ommah in Turkey, contacted Hamas operatives Abdel Jaber Shelbi and Ibrahim Alnaji from Khyar Ommah, and reported the location of the Elbit plant near Nof HaGalil, so Hamas would target it with missiles.
Judge Bibi ruled on Tuesday: “I believe that at this stage of the hearing, the bank has presented evidence on a level that meets the burden of proof, and at least on a level that negates the claimants’ chances win.”
The judge pointed to pictures that Groner had published in Hakol Hayehudi, showing the Aid 48 officials in the company of the Turkish terrorism-supporting association.
Groner also published a picture of Senior Hamas Europe official Amin Abu Rashad with Ra’am senior official Nail Issa.
