Members of Knesset Amichai Chikli (Likud), Ofir Sofer (Religious Zionism), and Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) together with the "Ad Kan" organization on Monday held an emergency conference in the Knesset exposing delegitimization organizations' ties to the Hamas terror group.
At the conference, which was attended by many members of the Knesset, it was revealed that the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which is an anti-Israel organization, is part of a coalition of organizations running a delegitimization campaign against the State of Israel and denying its right to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
Gilad Ach, CEO of Ad Kan, revealed that the ISM organization, which was established in 2001, cooperated and assisted the terrorist organizations Hamas, Popular for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and Islamic Jihad.
Among other activities, ISM hid terrorists and transferred aid to Hamas members.
These materials were discovered thanks to investigations conducted on the organization's operatives by the FBI. ISM personnel were documented by Ad Kan's research department in a variety of activities against IDF soldiers throughout Judea and Samaria, as well as in their connections with terrorist elements from Hamas, PFLP, and Islamic Jihad.
Among the MKs attending the conference were Bezalel Smotritch (Religious Zionism), Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism), Orit Strock (Religious Zionism), Michal Waldiger (Religious Zionism), Amichai Chikli (Likud), Limor Son Har Melech (Otzma Yehudit), Nissim Vaturi (Likud), Moshe Saada (Likud), Tali Gottlieb (Likud), Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit), Ohad Tal (Religious Zionism), and Chanoch Milbitsky (Likud).
MK Bezalel Smotritch, chairman of the Religious Zionism party, said: "We need to put together a whole basket of tools and get our hands on these funds. The State of Israel has enough legal tools. In the face of delegitimization, the encouragement of terrorism, and the tarnishing that we are going through, it is time to start to respond. This is the challenge. I do not doubt that in the coming days a good government will be formed. I will roll up my sleeves because many challenges await us."
MK Ofir Sofer (Religious Zionism) said: "The findings that the Ad Kan organization reveals are extremely worrying and indicate extensive connections between anti-Israeli organizations financed by European funds and the Hamas movement and terrorist organizations. We will work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make a profound change on the issue, and it is appropriate that the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee should also deal with it. As a soldier and as a commander in the IDF, I am saddened to see activists under the guise of human rights organizations harming IDF soldiers and the State of Israel. I thank and support the Ad Kan organization for the important work for our fighters."
MK Amichai Chikli (Likud) said: "Israel is in a campaign that most citizens are not exposed to. Under the pretense of the human rights organizations and humanitarian activity, a radical anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist ideology is hidden, whose purpose is to undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel and to shed the blood of its soldiers and citizens. The series, 'Shtula,' exposes the red-green alliance of radical left and Islamist organizations against the State of Israel."
MK Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) noted: "The State of Israel is burning. We saw what happened in the Negev with some of the Bedouins making names of the residents of the area. Now, the members of the Ad Kan organization have revealed a worrying picture of the situation, according to which organizations that the State of Israel allows entry to the country, are working against us and the IDF soldiers. There is no greater absurdity than this. I assure you that from here, from this place, we will fight against all those who want to raise a hand against the IDF soldiers To and the State of Israel."
Religious Zionism's MK Orit Struck quesioned: "With all the salute to the research from Ad Kan, the question is: How is it possible that the intelligence agencies of the State of Israel did not know anything about this?"
"And if they knew - how is it possible that their superiors did not act to thwart this dangerous activity?
"And the answer is because of such things, we must possess the powers and levers of power that determine how the Israeli security system will conduct itself in the face of these dangers."
MK Simcha Rothman added: "There is a law in the State of Israel regarding foreign funding, but it is simply not enforced. There are entities that have to report on foreign funding they receive but nothing happens with it. There are fines in the millions that need to be paid, and this is also not enforced. Until we change and treat the laws of the State of Israel as law and not as recommendations, many things will remain on paper. In the next government we will make sure that this will not be the case. The campaign for the good name of the country, which is turning into a fight for the lives of citizens and soldiers, must continue. This campaign must not be abandoned."
According to MK Chanoch Milbitsky, "These organizations finance leading media, there must not be division among us - wherever there is - these organizations will be there, militarily they realized that they will not be able to win, so they are trying to disintegrate us from the inside."
Gilad Ach, CEO of Ad Kan, emphasized: "There are anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic organizations that call themselves human rights organizations that are in deep ties with Hamas and cause tremendous damage to the State of Israel in the international arena, the results of which we all see. The new political circumstances are an excellent opportunity to put this issue in order. The time has come for the Knesset to establish an oversight mechanism for these same organizations. IDF soldiers must not be on the frontline against these terrorists in suits without any protection."