Israeli legal advocacy group Shurat HaDin said Monday it has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice calling for a federal national security investigation into the Hind Rajab Foundation, its leaders, funders and affiliated organizations.
The Tel Aviv-based group also asked U.S. authorities to consider sanctions against the foundation and its leadership if an investigation confirms links to terrorist organizations or support from hostile foreign actors.
Shurat HaDin says it asked the US Justice Department to investigate the Hind Rajab Foundation, its leaders, funders and affiliates
Shurat HaDin, which describes itself as a legal rights organization focused on combating terrorism and antisemitism through litigation, said the complaint seeks an investigation by the Justice Department in coordination with the FBI, the State Department, the Treasury Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The complaint asks U.S. authorities to examine who funds, directs and benefits from the Hind Rajab Foundation’s activities, and whether its campaign is connected to Hezbollah, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis or any sanctioned person or entity.
It also asks authorities to determine whether the foundation’s activities targeting Israeli, American and dual-national service members involve doxing, cyberstalking, harassment, threats, conspiracy, material support or misuse of communications systems.
According to Shurat HaDin, U.S. officials should also examine whether American financial institutions, online platforms, professional service providers or nonprofit intermediaries are facilitating the campaign.
The complaint further asks the Justice Department to investigate whether the Hind Rajab Foundation and its network are acting on behalf of foreign principals in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA, or whether they are receiving support from hostile foreign actors or providing services that benefit designated terrorist organizations.
“Perhaps the most troubling unanswered question surrounding HRF is who finances and directs it,” the complaint states, according to Shurat HaDin. “HRF presents itself as a grassroots human-rights organization. Yet the scale, geographic reach, legal sophistication, investigative capabilities, media operations, multilingual litigation campaigns, international travel, data collection activities, and coordinated filings across multiple jurisdictions require significant resources.”
Shurat HaDin described the foundation’s activity as a coordinated international campaign aimed at identifying, tracking, publicly exposing, intimidating and pursuing Israeli soldiers, reservists, veterans and, increasingly, Israeli-American dual nationals through criminal complaints and legal proceedings in multiple jurisdictions.
The Israeli group said its submission also raises concerns regarding the foundation’s leadership, including what it described as publicly reported ties between its chairman and Hezbollah, as well as alleged alignment with Iran-backed interests. It urged U.S. authorities to determine whether the foundation’s work is coordinated, financed or otherwise supported by terrorist organizations or their proxies.
“This is not human rights advocacy. It is the systematic weaponization of the legal system to terrorize the defenders of the Jewish State,” said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, founder and president of Shurat HaDin.
“The same forces that finance rockets and terrorism are increasingly seeking to fight Israel in courtrooms around the world,” she said. “We cannot allow organizations linked to Hezbollah and aligned with Iran’s strategic objectives to exploit democratic legal systems as another battlefield against Israel and its allies.”
Darshan-Leitner said the issue should also concern U.S. authorities because similar methods could be used against American troops.
“Today’s targets are Israeli soldiers. Tomorrow they could be American servicemen and women who fight terrorism,” she said. “Foreign organizations with alleged ties to terrorist movements should not be permitted to build dossiers on U.S. citizens, seek their arrest abroad, or pressure American authorities through coordinated lawfare campaigns.”
She added that the Justice Department should investigate who is funding and directing the operations, and whether they serve the interests of U.S. adversaries.
In its letter, Shurat HaDin warned that “the threat is now plainly American,” alleging that the Hind Rajab Foundation has pursued Israeli-American citizens and dual nationals both in the United States and abroad.
The group requested that federal authorities refer the foundation and its network for possible sanctions, designation, immigration and interagency action if an investigation confirms terrorist-linked support, services, direction or coordination.