The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) is exploring collaboration with the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), an organization that advocates for legal action against IDF veterans for supposed war crimes, according to HRF and NGO Monitor.
NGO Monitor claimed last Monday that Europol had admitted to it that it had been in contact with HRF, and that it was "maintaining and exploring cooperation with a number of stakeholders, including civil society organisations that collect and document alleged war crimes around the world.
HRF said in a statement last Wednesday that it had been invited by Europol to speak at the law enforcement agency's annual Hague meeting.
"This invitation forms part of a broader communication process and an exploration of possible cooperation between HRF and Europol," claimed HRF. "Delegations from several European countries attended the sessions and expressed strong interest in our work and in exploring cooperation. Multiple bilateral meetings took place with national war-crimes units and other law-enforcement representatives, during which mutual cooperation was discussed - particularly in relation to sharing HRF evidence on Israeli war criminals who visit these countries or who hold their nationality."
HRF attacked organizations critical of the relationship as seeking to obstruct justice.
Europol did not address alleged ties to the terror organization
Europol did not respond to queries from The Jerusalem Post.
NGO Monitor said that Europol did not address the group's alleged ties to a terrorist organization, though HRF argued that a law enforcement agency wouldn't cooperate with a group without conducting due diligence.
“HRF’s terror links are well-documented and longstanding,” NGO Monitor Vice President Olga Deutsch said in a statement. “Its chairman is linked to Hezbollah’s funding network, and has praised the 9/11 attacks and trafficked in Holocaust denial. Western governments and law enforcement agencies should be investigating HRF, not allowing it to peddle vicious anti-Israel campaigns in their respective countries. It is long past time for EU member states to stand firm against activist NGOs looking to usurp and undermine their legal systems from within.”
In a 2003 New York Times interview with HRF founder Dyab Abou Jahjah, and shared on the website of another organization he founded, it was related that he "joined the Hezbollah resistance against Israel."
In February, the Diaspora Ministry alleged that Abou Jahjah was part of a network of Hezbollah-affiliated companies and families of financiers and legal advisers.
HRF creates dossiers of IDF veterans who have served in the Israel-Hamas War, alleging that they have taken part in "genocide" and other supposed war crimes. HRF has coordinated legal action against these IDF veterans visiting other countries.