The Woman Who Became the Terrorists' Nightmare: "This is How to Dry Up Terror"

"To understand how crucial the fight against terror funds is, I want to take you back to an event that significantly changed Israel's security stance," says attorney and president of Shurat HaDin, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner (48), at the start of our conversation. Leitner recounts the story of an innocent-looking ferry docking at the Valletta port on the morning of October 28, 1995. Onboard stood a notorious killer with a passport bearing the name Ibrahim Shajwaish. Among the Israelis tracking his movements, Shajwaish was an alias, none other than Fathi Shikaki, the leader of the murderous Islamic Jihad Movement responsible for a slew of deadly terror attacks across Israel. Shikaki was unaware he was the target of Israeli intelligence, with agents already waiting in Malta.

Shikaki was later eliminated. According to foreign reports, Israel carried out the assassination. It was a complex mission. Unlike typical intelligence assassinations, Shikaki was shot dead in broad daylight on a busy street in Malta when one of two passing motorcyclists fired three shots at him. Shikaki died instantly. Later, according to foreign publications, the assassins were extracted from the country by Shayetet 13 unit.

"Shikaki's elimination is considered one of the most successful assassinations of a terror group leader ever," notes Leitner.

How did Shikaki's elimination differ from other key terror figures targeted by Israel?

"Shikaki arrived in Malta with crates of money meant for continuing the Islamic Jihad's terror activities," explains Leitner. "That money never reached its destination. The problem for the Islamic Jihad became much greater," she writes in her recent book "Harpoon," which traces Israel and Mossad's fight against terror financing. "Shin Bet heads tracking Islamic Jihad in the territories couldn’t understand how Shikaki was so operationally alert yet logistically disordered," it stated.

"Shikaki’s assassination dealt a severe blow to the brutal terror organization because he alone knew where the organization’s money was, scattered in dozens of secret bank accounts worldwide. Shikaki held the keys to the safes and the secret codes. When he was eliminated – the organization's funds were lost," she says. It’s no wonder this was one of the most successful and impactful eliminations ever conducted in the fight against terrorism.

However, the fight against terror funding didn't start with Shikaki’s elimination; it was the signal that later taught the operatives about the importance of drying up funds. The innovative initiative to fight terror by drying up the funds of terror organizations and terror-supporting states began when Leitner was still a young student. "I distinctly remember that day," she says, referring to the lynching of Yossi Avrahami and Vadim Norzhich, two IDF soldiers mistaken to Ramallah. "About a week after the brutal murder, I approached Norzhich’s father and offered to represent him in a lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority for allowing the murder of his son. He agreed, and the rest is history."

"Terror Bank"

Justice moves slowly. In Leitner's case, it's even slower. But eventually, the results show on the ground.

What was the trigger for establishing 'Shurat HaDin'?

"It was during Meir Dagan's tenure as head of the Mossad," answers Leitner. "One day, I was summoned to a secret meeting with security personnel. I wasn’t told exactly what it was about, but I could guess." Leitner arrived at the meeting with mounds of documents, impressing the two agents from the Mossad's Harpoon unit, established to fight terror financing. Afterward, she was formally recruited to the Israeli effort to dry up terror funds. "I understood then that I could no longer operate as a regular lawyer, and I decided to transform my work into a full-fledged organization. Shortly after, I founded 'Shurat HaDin'."

How do you work to dry up terror funds?

"Drying up terror funds is done both through military means, which I am not involved in, and through legal means, which is Shurat HaDin’s method of operation," says Leitner. "Over the years, we have filed many lawsuits against terrorist organizations, from Hezbollah to Hamas, and also against Iran – the world's largest terror supporter. These efforts have often borne fruit, baruch Hashem, thus hitting one of the most critical components of running a terror organization – economic funding."

As part of this, Leitner focused much effort on fighting the Arab Bank, considered one of the largest banks in the world. The Arab Bank, operating from Amman, Jordan, is known for its significant ties to the Palestinian struggle against Israel. "This bank regularly funds and supports terror," notes Leitner, who has declared an ongoing battle against them.

It seems Leitner is the ultimate expert on the famous bank's exploits. "The Arab Bank was established in 1930, during the British Mandate. Its founder, businessman Abdel Hamid Shoman, was born in Beit Hanina, a village between Jerusalem and Ramallah. After Israel's victory in the War of Independence, the bank ceased operations in the country and moved its offices to Jordan. As a devout Muslim, Shoman assisted Palestinians affected during the Intifada, and his son who continued his role at the bank, imposed a regular tax on employees called 'support for Al Aqsa Intifada'. Clear. Openly."

(Photo: shutterstock)

In recent years, the bank's attorneys have been forced to work overtime: A series of lawsuits filed by Leitner against the Arab Bank has led to almost endless legal battles in US courts. The latest lawsuit, totaling 20 billion shekels, was filed by 1,132 terror victims and their families against the Arab Bank for collaboration, support, assistance, financing, and encouragement of terror activities in Israel, Judea and Samaria, and the Gaza Strip. Leitner hopes these lawsuits will even collapse the bank. This lawsuit was filed in Tevet 5779 and is still ongoing in US courts.

Another bank against which the final word has already been spoken is the 'Lebanon Canada Bank', which did not survive the war Leitner declared on it. "The fight against the bank began at the end of the Second Lebanon War," she says. "It was a Hezbollah organization bank, which helped the terror organization, especially during the Second Lebanon War. The Harpoon unit tracked the bank's activities for a long time, and Israel demanded the Americans sever all business ties with the bank, but the Americans refused the request. The Bush administration feared that the bank's downfall would severely impact many civilians in southern Lebanon who had invested their money there, so they refrained from the move," she notes. When Harpoon saw they had no other option, they involved 'Shurat HaDin' in the fight. As a result, Leitner filed a lawsuit in the US court against the bank. The lawsuit, which included dozens of Second Lebanon War victims, including American, Canadian, and Druze citizens, ended with the acceptance of Shurat HaDin’s claim, and the imposition of an enormous financial penalty of half a billion dollars on Lebanon Canada. What diplomatic efforts could not achieve, Leitner's lawsuit, with Hashem's help, did. Shortly afterward, the bank declared bankruptcy. "These are the moments that give us the strength to continue our work, despite the long time it takes for us to see the results of our actions," she says.

You mentioned legal and other efforts against terror funding, but is there also active military involvement in your fight?

As a response, Leitner points to, for example, an operation Israeli forces conducted in the West Bank. It was Operation "Green Lantern", held in 2004. This rare operation included a commando raid on West Bank banks that aided terrorist activities and contained terrorist bank accounts. This followed extensive intelligence gathering by Harpoon, which led the fighters directly to the safes containing terror funds.

"Another incident showing Israel began seriously addressing terror financing occurred at the onset of Operation "Protective Edge". Mohammed Talat Al-Awl, Hamas's money courier, reached the Gaza Strip during that period, carrying millions of dollars in suitcases in his vehicle. It was money sent in a convoluted way to Gaza from Iran after Tehran heeded Hamas's desperate call shortly before, stating the organization faced a financial ruin. An air force UAV flying over the Gaza Strip at the time launched a precise bomb at Al-Awl's vehicle. The organization’s money courier was eliminated, and more importantly, 13 million dollars in his vehicle went up in flames. "Bills of money flew on the nearby road," were reports from Gaza thereafter."

Global Imitation

The military operation Israel conducted against terror funding marks a directional change after Leitner initially worked alone in the economic sphere of terror fighting, only later receiving governmental backing. The change occurred, as mentioned, during the tenure of then-Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who established the Harpoon unit, a unit kept secret until recently – its purpose was to combat funding terrorist activities. Nowadays, the Israeli method, endorsed by Leitner, is being replicated worldwide. A prominent example, according to Leitner, occurred during the US's fight against the ISIS terror organization.

In her book, Leitner describes one of the prominent American actions against terror funds. It was in late March 2016. The American Air Force's Aerial Brigade, considered one of the most secretive units, embarked on "Night Hunters". The operation's target was Abdel Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli. Al-Qaduli, a tough individual, a former physics teacher from Mosul, joined al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2004. In 2012, al-Qaduli was released from US custody. Later, he joined ISIS and became the deputy of the organization’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Al-Qaduli was one of the top officials in the murderous terrorist group, and remarkably, his role was mainly economic, signaling the great importance ISIS placed on the organization's funds. In the press, he was dubbed the ISIS finance minister.

One day, the Americans reached him. In a swift raid on the convoy he was traveling in, the senior terrorist was eliminated, along with his bodyguards. The American commandos quickly approached the burning vehicles to retrieve intelligence information: cell phones, computers, and more. Similar to the impact of Shikaki's assassination on Islamic Jihad, Al-Qaduli’s assassination had severe repercussions on ISIS activities. "Al-Qaduli," says Leitner, "knew where the organization’s secret bank accounts were, their balances, and how the interest rates worked. His elimination led to a devastating blow to the organization, which suddenly lost the economic brain driving its operations."

Even the current Operation "Guardian of the Walls" bears clear economic markers. Hamas was surprised to find the national bank building in Nuseirat targeted, as was the organization's finance office, both economic entities critical to Hamas. These economic institutions have become integral parts of terror organizations, and thus they have no protection, Israel indirectly clarified by attacking the buildings in the heart of the strip. In the strip, it was later reported that both buildings were completely destroyed. Subsequently, the IDF updated that it attacked two central banks that aided Hamas operations. In a statement released a short time later, the IDF Spokesperson said: "A short while ago, IDF planes and aircraft attacked two branches of the central bank in Gaza used by the Hamas terrorist organization. The IDF continues to attack terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip and will continue to operate forcefully as necessary."

Finally, we want to understand where the revolutionary idea to hit terror financially came from?

"In the past, no one imagined operating this way," says Leitner. "However, shortly before the lynching of the two IDF soldiers Yossi Avrahami and Vadim Norzhich, special anti-terror laws were enacted in the US to allow terror victims to receive compensation from organizations or countries that harmed their loved ones. I followed the legislation enacted in the US closely and decided to apply it for Israel as well."

Since the Ramallah lynching, Leitner has led lifesaving actions with *siyata dishmaya*. In one case, she commandeered Ismail Haniyeh's funds when he approached the border with truckloads of cash, and after Israel barred his entry, he arranged with the Arab League to leave the funds in their bank accounts in Egypt to withdraw them later. Haniyeh didn’t manage to do so. A subsequent lawsuit against the Arab League in the US demanded the funds be transferred – according to a prior court ruling – to terror victims’ families, was accepted in the American court, freezing Hamas funds worth tens of millions of dollars. Behind this operation also stood Leitner, proving once again how crucial her struggle is.

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