Civil Case (Tel Aviv) 34153-02-24 Al-Aqsa Association for the Development of Islamic Endowment Assets v. Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. - part 9

The witness, Mr. Jabbar:   Who is it?

Adv. Bar David:     Do you know? Organizing a charitable act? No, I don't know?

The witness, Mr. Jabbar:   I don't know.

Adv. Bar David:     The association had contact with an organization called CBSP?

The witness, Mr. Jabbar:   What I can say is that during the period when I started working or when I was a manager in the association, we did not conduct ourselves and we had no connection in any association from what you are talking about" (p.  53, paras.  23-30).

79. No new evidence has been presented on this issue since the interim relief decision, in which it was determined that the weight of publications in the media as a "red flag" was not great. I reject the bank's claim that Jaber's answer "I don't know" in response to a question about the organization's ties to the Human Appeal organization attests to the organization's long-standing involvement in terrorism.  Jaber explained that he began his work at the association in June 2021, and therefore could not provide details about activities or connections that preceded that date.
80. Connection between the association in question and the association 48: The bank once again claimed that there were connections, past and present, between the association and the association 48. He noted that on July 7, 2025, the Registrar of Non-Profit Organizations announced his final decision to take action to dismantle the 48 Association due to serious findings, including the remarks of Razi Issa (who was the CEO of the 48 Association) in which he referred to Sheikh Yassin as a martyr that the bank claims were made while he was the CEO of Al-Aqsa.  The Bank once again refers to the decision regarding the Islamic Association for Orphans and the Needy (paragraph 35):

It is impossible to ignore a recorded passage in which this declarant is heard in his voice referring to Sheikh Yassin as a "martyr" and his attempts to evade the accepted interpretation of this terminology in his answer, and according to it we are dealing with someone who died while fulfilling a religious mitzva [...] As for these words, even as these are words that were said by the witness in 2016, prior to the beginning of his activity in the association, it cannot be ignored that these are the opinions of the person who heads the association.

81. The bank adds that Jaber confirmed in his interrogation that Razi Issa served as the plaintiff's CEO, including in 2016 (p. 60, paras.  11-13), and that the plaintiff confirmed that Razi Issa began working for the 48 association several months after he resigned from the plaintiff's management (paragraph 12 of the association's response of February 28, 2024).  From the combination of the data, it can be concluded that Issa's statements were made while he was the plaintiff's CEO, and therefore the District Court's determination that this was a red flag is relevant to our case.  In addition, it was claimed that the association concealed the fact that it was carrying out joint activities with the 48 association in Jerusalem, and admitted to this only in Jaber's statement of claim and affidavit.
82. The association rejects the claims. As for Razi Issa's statements: She claims that the video was not shown to her or to the court, and it was not proven that his words were made while he served as the organization's director-general.  In addition, the association emphasized that there is no reason to take into account the private opinion of the former CEO of the association for the purpose of closing the association's account today, especially when the words were said a decade ago and the same person has not managed the association for more than seven years.

As for the alleged ties to the 48 Association: The association referred to the position of the Attorney General and the Shin Bet, according to which no information was found linking the 48 association to terrorist organizations.  She explained that there are no transfers of money or accounts between the associations, and that the only connection is cooperation in humanitarian aid distribution projects in Jerusalem, with the association distributing equipment received from the 48 association free of charge.  The association added that during the preparation of an affidavit of disclosure of documents and answers to a questionnaire on its behalf, two receipts from June 2018 were found, totaling ILS 95,162 for the association 48.  These sums were earmarked for the project of building a mobile mosque on Route 6.  The association noted that Jaber was not aware of them because they predate the period of his employment with the association.  The association emphasized that since June 2018 there have been no transfers or accounting between the associations; The association denied employing joint employees, and clarified that a board member and a member of the audit committee are employed part-time at the 48 association, but claimed that this does not create relevant or suspicious connections.  The organization added that Gilad was never employed by the organization, that he was a licensed tour guide who was invited on a voluntary basis, and that his conviction more than a decade ago for civic activity in the Muslim Brotherhood in Jerusalem is irrelevant, as he is now a normative citizen.

83. Jaber stated (paragraph 8 of Jaber's supplementary affidavit, Appendix C to the affidavit) that Razi Issa served as the CEO of Al-Aqsa from July 2016 until December 31, 2018, and then began his position as CEO of the 48 Association on January 2020, i.e., about a year after he retired from his position at the plaintiff. He did serve as the plaintiff's CEO after his statements.  However, this does not give rise to a reasonable concern regarding the association's involvement in terrorist activity.  No real and substantial connection between the associations or accountability between them has been established.  In contrast to NGO 48, where activity has been proven to support organizations in Gaza, Syria, Turkey, Yemen and the Palestinian Authority, including an organization linked to Hamas, in our case there is no such evidence.  The totality does not indicate a real concern about the plaintiff's involvement in terrorist activity.
84. The association's involvement with terrorist operatives: At the evidentiary hearing, the bank presented video footage from the course "Ein al-Buraq" (Appendix 20 to the bank's affidavit). Jaber confirmed in his interrogation that he was documented in the top photo (p.  61, paras.  25-28).  As for the other people photographed in the same photos: Jaber first replied that they were "guests" (p.  61 of the transcript, paras.  31-32) and later confirmed that the photographs depicted Bikraat and Sabri who participated in the activities of the association "this is the main thing of my life," "This is the deputy director of the Waqf Phil Islam in Jerusalem" (p.  62, paras.  6 and 16).  The bank rejects the association's claim that they "only" spoke at the opening event of the course, and claims that their very participation in the association's activities, regardless of their specific role or the association's knowledge of their ties to terrorism, raises a very serious "red flag."
85. The association reiterates that Berat and Sabri did not serve as instructors in the course. Jaber clarified in his cross-examination that they were present as representatives of the Muslim Waqf, which is responsible for the holy sites, at the opening of the instructor training course at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2021 (p.  62, s.  15 to p.  63, s.  19).  The association maintains that it did not know and could not have known that years after they participated in the association's activities, they would be suspected of hostile activity, and in any event, these suspicions are not related to the association's activities or to the bank account.
86. Again, I find that the weight of this event as a "red flag" is not great. There is no evidence that the association knew about the positions of these figures, and that the connection with them was connected to their involvement in terrorism, or directly related to the activity in the account.  However, even assuming that their positions in the past were known (and did not change), it has not been proven that the two actually incited against Israel on the relevant dates.  Presenting the incident as evidence of involvement in terrorism is nothing but "retrospective wisdom," and even this incident does not raise a "red flag" after examining the totality.
87. Publications that incite terrorism: The bank maintains that the association is responsible for publications that incite terrorism in Uman, which establishes a "red flag" that attests to its involvement.
88. As for Jaber's publications: the bank referred to his answers in its cross-examination of November 18, 2025. At first, Jaber was shown a photograph of a man waving a Hamas flag.  When asked if it was a flag related to Hamas, he replied: "No, it has nothing to do with Hamas" (p.  64, questions 12 and 19).  He was then shown a Hamas flag from the Wikipedia website.  When asked again whether the Hamas flag looked like the flag in the photo, he confirmed that the flags were "the same" (p.  68, s.  1).  According to the bank, this development in the testimony clearly illustrates the seriousness of Jaber's remarks and his lack of credibility.
89. The organization explains that the flag displays the shahada (the declaration of the Islamic faith), which appears on the Hamas flag as well as on other flags such as the flag of the Islamic Movement and the Saudi flag. Therefore, according to her, Jaber did not lie on the witness stand, but merely made it clear that the flag was not "only for Hamas" (p.  67, s.  18; p.  64, s.  16-21; p.  67, s.  14 to p.  68, s.  7); and that he posted the photo out of support for the Islamic Movement and not out of support for Hamas.  The association reiterated that these were old publications that were posted on Jaber's private Facebook page, and that they had no connection to the association or its bank account (p.  63, s.  32; p.  68, s.  3).
90. Regarding Attoun's publication: The bank referred to the plaintiff's counsel's response at the interim relief hearing of May 6, 2024, in which he answered "not denied" in response to the question of whether the publications that were attached (including those of Atton) were "genuine" (Minutes of May 6, 2024, p. 7, questions 1-9).
91. I do not believe that these old publications raise a real concern about the association's involvement in terrorist activity. This is not the place to determine whether Jaber's publications amount to incitement to terrorism, since they are his private publications, and therefore the question of whether it is a Hamas flag or not is irrelevant.  The publication of Atun is old, and originated on a deleted website of the association.  No evidence was presented that the organization publishes any incitement against the State of Israel that indicates involvement in terrorism.
92. Total loss of trust on the part of the bank in the association: The bank has repeatedly raised the claim of total loss of trust. He argued that the entirety of the association's conduct, as detailed at length in the summaries, led to a loss of confidence in it and was not contradicted by the association (p.  79, paras.  28-30).  The bank listed the following as the causes of the loss of trust: the association's approval of receiving millions of shekels in cash without knowing the source of the money; improper receipt management; its ties to Hamas-affiliated entities; Employing a person convicted of security offenses and a number of serious publications about the association.  According to the bank's position, there is no reason to obligate it to continue to manage an account for a customer who has lost all confidence in him, and therefore his decision to stop the activity was lawfully made.  The bank cited a ruling in support of this position, according to which in cases where the trust was lost, the bank's refusal to provide service was justified.
93. The association did not directly address the claim of loss of trust, but indirectly by refuting each of the "red flags" raised by the bank. The association argued that none of the indications indicated by the bank, not even their accumulation, substantiated a real concern of improper activity, certainly not of terrorist financing or money laundering.  The association emphasized that it is a veteran account manager who has been active for years, and that its activities are proper and legal.  In doing so, the association contradicted, in its view, the factual basis for the claim of loss of confidence in the bank.
94. There is no substance to this claim of the bank either. A cause of distrust must be based on a deliberate concealment of facts in an attempt to circumvent restrictions imposed by the bank, or on a particularly serious set of circumstances.  The bank did not prove that the association deliberately concealed such facts, nor did it point to serious circumstances that would justify a complete loss of trust, when most of the problematic conduct attributed to the association is consistent with its declared and ongoing manner of activity over the years.  Moreover, once it has been determined that those "red flags" that attest to involvement in terrorism, as opposed to fear of money laundering, have little weight, the ground is indeed dropped under the factual basis for the lack of trust that has been created.  Personal or subjective distrust is not enough for this matter.  A lack of trust based on proven deeds and a solid factual basis is required.  There is no such thing, as I said.
95. In its summaries, the bank referred to rulings in which the bank's loss of confidence in the customer was considered a reasonable refusal. However, in these rulings, the crisis of trust between the bank and the customer stemmed from serious circumstances that are substantially different from our case.  These included patterns of violent or threatening behavior toward the bank's employees, cases of systematic lack of cooperation with the bank's demands for the provision of material information, and a real suspicion of money laundering and terrorist financing.  Thus inOpening Motion (Tel Aviv District) 15335-12-16 Saadia v.  Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank (February 26, 2017), trust was lost mainly as a result of the customer's violent and threatening behavior toward the bank's employees and the fact that the customer himself lost confidence in the bank; S.Civil Case (Hai District) 59113-09-16 R.M.  Express v.  Bank Leumi (May 16, 2018) Trust was lost that the customer refused to cooperate with the bank's information requirements, violated the bank's procedures and rules, raised a reasonable concern of money laundering activity in the account, violated a procedural arrangement that received the validity of a decision, acted forcefully, and abused temporary remedies; inOpening Stimulus (Tel Aviv District) 40937-04-18 Eitan Cohen Change The Summit Beitar Elite BTax Appeal v.  Discount Bank in Tax Appeal (May 17, 2018) Trust was lost due to explicit and severe threats by the customer towards the branch manager and his family, as well as a loss of mutual trust between the customer and the bank, when the customer himself declared that he had lost his trust in the bank; InCivil Case (Jerusalem District) 14548-09-18 A.B.A.  Trade and Transportation in Tax Appeal v.  Discount Bank (June 17, 2019) Trust was lost due to violent and verbally threatening behavior by the customer's representative towards the branch manager, as well as concern about problematic financial activity, including incorrectness of statements when opening the account; In the Dagan case , trust was lost due to the Applicant's consistent conduct, which included deliberate attempts to circumvent the Bank's monitoring system by deliberately splitting money transfers from digital currencies, continuing to operate in contravention of the Bank's explicit instructions, lack of transparency and contradictions in its testimony.  This behavior, against the background of the high risk involved in activity in digital currencies and the obligations imposed on the bank to prevent money laundering, led to a loss of mutual and reasonable trust on the part of the bank; In the case of the Islamic Association for Orphans and the Needy, the crisis of trust stemmed from a real suspicion of money laundering and terrorist financing, which includes, inter alia, large money transfers to the Palestinian Authority and Gaza without supervision, proven ties to terrorist organizations and elements, some of which are affiliated with Hamas, the bank's inability to monitor the organization's activities, and the organization's failure to provide sufficient explanations; inCivil Case (Shalom Tel Aviv) 52615-09-20 Q.  Tuchler Holdings inTax Appeal vs.  Bank Leumi Le-Israel inTax Appeal (October 9, 2020) The crisis of trust stemmed from a lack of transparency and failure to provide information to the bank regarding unusual and sudden activity in the account, failure to respond to warning letters, and presentation of a partial and inaccurate picture to the court.  This conduct, together with suspicious financial activity, created "red flags" and led to the erosion of trust between the bank and the applicant.
96. Our case is clearly different from these cases. The association cooperated with his requests and questions, and it cannot be said that the aforementioned loss is justified on an objective level that justifies an extreme measure of closing the account.

"New" red flags

97. At the evidence stage, the bank pointed to three new "red flags" that were not discussed in the interim relief stage: (1) the investigation of the Registrar of Non-Profit Organizations; (2) Additional articles in the newspaper "Israel Hayom"; (3) A check from the association deposited with the Palestinian Authority. I will discuss them in their order:
98. Investigation of the Registrar of Non-Profits: The Bank claims that an investigation into the matter of the association by the Registrar of Non-Profit Organizations is another "red flag." In this context, it was proven that in December 2024, officials in the plaintiff were summoned for questioning at the offices of the Corporations Authority (Appendix 23 to the bank's affidavits). The bank claims that this material matter, which indicates improper conduct, was concealed by the association from the court.  When Jaber was asked about this in his interrogation, he casually replied: "I didn't think there was a connection between the investigation at the Registrar of Non-Profit Organizations [...] These are things that do not belong to it" (p.  47, paras.  12-19).  The Bank pointed to a letter to the Registrar of Associations dated July 7, 2024 (Appendix 23 to the Bank's affidavits, at pp.  577-581) in which the Association itself referred to the Bank's claims raised in this legal proceeding regarding its activities, which proves, according to the Bank, that the Association recognizes the connection between the proceedings.
99. On the other hand, the association claims that there is no connection between the investigation opened at the offices of the Registrar of Non-Profit Organizations and suspicions of terror financing. According to her, the only relevant clause in this context dealt with money received from foreign associations until 2019, in which it was noted that some of them are currently declared an illegal association, but there were no such at the time the money was transferred.  The association stressed that "there is nothing new here"; and that the only defect that was required to be corrected was an accounting defect.  Therefore, according to her, this is not a "flag" of any kind (P/1, paragraphs 24-26).
100. Jabbar testified that the investigation with the Registrar of Non-Profit Organizations was completed and the case was transferred to another department dealing with deficiencies, but no final decision was made in their case. He noted that they were told that "there is nothing unusual" and that the association is "fine", except for certain things that need to be corrected (p.  43, s.  17 to p.  44, s.  2).  Daoud was asked about this and answered in a similar manner (p.  18, s.  29 to p.  19, s.  4).
101. A review of the Corporations Authority's inspection results report dated July 21, 2025 shows that a comprehensive examination of the association's activities was conducted, during which a number of deficiencies were found. It was found that the association acted in contravention of its procedures when it paid debts to the Tax Authority for a third party, in an activity that was not one of its approved goals.  The association did not present the official documents provided by the families, nor did it present the minutes of the committee discussing the decision on this payment.  In response to the report, the association presented criteria for distributing aid to the needy and appropriate forms; It was required to relate in its financial statements to income and expenses in monetary value relating to the transportation activities under its sponsorship.  As for the use of cash: the association has passed a procedure for collecting donations and managing receipt books; As of 2020, income from foreign organizations and associations has stopped.  Some of these foreign organizations are currently declared an illegal association, but at the time of the money transfers, these organizations were not included in this list.  In summary, deficiencies were found in the association's conduct that required correction.  The association was required to provide a report and references regarding the correction of these deficiencies, including reference in the financial statements to income and expenses of monetary value relating to the transportation activity under its sponsorship.  The findings raise the concern that the association is conducting itself in contravention of the accepted accounting rules and the guidelines of the Registrar of Associations in accordance with the law, and therefore the case was transferred to the Corporations Authority for further consideration by the Division to consider an action plan vis-à-vis the Association.
102. It therefore appears that the Registrar of Non-Profit Organizations' concern revolves solely around accounting deficiencies, and does not raise concerns about money laundering or terrorist financing. However, it should be clarified that it is possible that the investigation has not been completed, and therefore its findings at the current stage do not have significant evidentiary weight.  In any event, the investigation does not indicate any concern about money laundering or terrorist financing, nor does it raise a "red flag" regarding these.  On the contrary, an official investigative body examined the organization's conduct and did not find any suspicion of any of these, let alone a real suspicion.
103. A check from the association deposited in a Palestinian bank: At the evidentiary hearing, the bank presented a document that it claimed testified that a check of the association dated July 15, 2025, signed by authorized signatories, was paid by a person holding a bank account in the Palestinian Authority (p. 35, paras.  17-25).  According to the bank, this contradicts Jaber's testimony that there is no activity abroad but only in Israel, and points to a red flag.

The association claimed in its summaries that the check was not disclosed in the discovery of the documents; Jaber clarified in his interrogation that he had given it to a pharmaceutical company called "Beit Aladwa Warehouse" that operates in Jerusalem and the Occupied Territories, and that he did not know where he was actually deposited (p.  35, paras.  17-25; p.  50, s.  29 to p.  51, s.  22).  According to her, focusing on a single check demonstrates how weak the bank's claims are.