Arab Israeli man given 3.5 years for conveying Hamas funds from Turkey

An Arab Israeli man was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for helping the Hamas terror group to transfer hundreds of thousands of euros from Turkey into Israel to fund its operations, the Justice Ministry said in a statement Monday.

In a plea bargain, the Jerusalem District Court convicted Dara’am Jabarin, a resident of the northern Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, of contact with a foreign agent, providing services to a terror organization, prohibited use of property for terrorist purposes, and prohibited transactions, as well as other offenses.

The case led to the Shin Bet security service earlier this year accusing Turkey of aiding the Gaza-based Hamas organization raise and launder funds for its military activities against Israel.

Prosecutors said that in total Jabarin brought €300,000 ($344,000) to Israel on behalf of Hamas during business trips he made to and from Turkey over the past two years.

He was also given a suspended sentence and a fine of NIS 20,000 ($5,500). NIS 560,000 ($154,00) were forfeited for the state, the statement said.

According to the conviction, Jabarin has business operations in Turkey. In 2016 he met with two senior Hamas activists, Zaher Jabarin and Salamah Marahei, who sought to use his frequent journeys from Israel to Turkey to transfer money from Qatar to Israeli territory, and from there to local Hamas operatives.

(Zaher and Dara’am do not appear to be related. Jabarin is a common last name.)

Dara’am Jabarin would bring the cash to Israel and leave it at drop-off points. He would take photos of the locations and send them to Hamas members in Turkey who would then arrange for local operators to pick up the money and transfer it to the West Bank.

On four occasions he brought between 50,000 and 100,000 euros, for a total of €300,000 until his arrest in January 2018 along with Turkish national Cemil Tekeli.

When Jabarin was arrested on January 21, security forces found €91,000 in his home, which the Shin Bet later said was due to be transferred to the West Bank.

Zaher Jabarin, a senior figure in Hamas responsible for its finances, was one of over a thousand convicted Palestinian terrorists released from Israeli prisons as part of a 2011 deal to secure the return of captured soldier Gilad Shalit. Along with several other Shalit releasees, he later resettled in Turkey.

In February the Shin Bet said in a statement that during its investigation of the case “it became clear that Hamas is in direct contact with Turkish authorities.”

The security service said at the time that Turkish citizen Tekeli revealed in his interrogation that money and materiel was given to Hamas through the SADAT company, which was established by Adnan Basha, who is closely connected to Turkish administration officials.

According to the Shin Bet statement, the aforementioned activities “took place unhindered as Turkish officials turn a blind eye and — on occasion — encourage it, and with the assistance of Turkish nationals, some of whom are close to the government.”

Tekeli is suspected of helping Hamas members set up businesses in Turkey, obtain visas to stay in the country, and acquire commercial properties, houses and cars.