Israel’s Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday signed a ministerial decree imposing financial sanctions on a London-based terror suspect believed to have ties to Hamas.
The decree states that all of Mohammed Jamil Mahmoud Hersh’s assets in Israel are to be frozen, while foreign institutions operating in Israel risk fines for doing business with him. Hersh, a Hamas activist deported from Israel in 1992, is currently living in the UK, where he works for the Arab Organization for Human Rights in the UK, a charity affiliated with Hamas.
The decree was issued in accordance with Israel’s Counterterrorism Law.
During a visit to Israel’s Hatzor air base on Tuesday, Bennett said, “Today, we are embarking on an extensive economic campaign against activists from terrorist organizations all over the world,” i24 News reported.
Upon taking office last month, Bennett said he would step up the war on terror, including by employing what he called “targeted financial warfare.”
A Defense Ministry official said that the directive was the first of its kind with respect to the fight against terror financing, adding that more such directives will follow in the future.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
