Israel backs out of lawsuit vs Hamas, Bank of China

Special to WorldTribune.com

JERUSALEM — Israel has decided to abandon a lawsuit against a
Chinese bank that allegedly provided financial services to Hamas and Islamic
Jihad.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has walked away from
a suit in a U.S. court by Israeli victims of Palestinian attacks. The
government said despite assurances of help it could no longer allow a former
intelligence official to testify in the U.S. district court in Washington.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  /Debbie Hill/Rex Features
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. /Debbie Hill/Rex Features

“After conducting a comprehensive review of the matter, the state of Israel concluded that it cannot allow the former official to be forced to disclose in foreign legal proceedings any information that came to his knowledge in the course of his official duties,” Netanyahu said on Nov. 16.

In a statement, the prime minister referred to a Nov. 15 motion by the Israeli government in a U.S. federal court in Washington that would prevent an appearance by the former official, Uzi Shaya. Shaya was meant to be the key witness for the families of 22 Israelis killed in insurgency attacks that charged that Hamas and Islamic Jihad were being financed by Bank of China.

Attorneys as well as some of the families of the victims said Israel
initiated the suit after China refused to stop wire transfer services to
Hamas and other Palestinian insurgency groups. The Israeli intelligence
community was said to have supplied such information as account numbers of
Hamas at Bank of China.

“The disclosure of such information would harm Israel’s national
security, compromise Israel’s ability to protect those within its borders,
and interfere with international cooperative efforts to prevent terrorism,”
the statement said.

Israel has been involved in another case in the United States against
Bank of China, which claims that it was not informed of its link with
Palestinian insurgency groups. The suit in U.S. district court in New York
included an affidavit by another Israeli intelligence official, Shlomo
Matalon, who relayed the amount of transfers by Bank of China to Hamas and
Jihad.

The Israel Law Center, which helped bring the suit, said Netanyahu, who
for decades urged the international community to increase pressure on
insurgency groups, collapsed under pressure from China. Center director
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner referred to Israeli media reports that Beijing had
threatened to cancel projects.

“He is sending a message to the terrorists and the whole world, that
Jewish blood is cheap,” Ms. Darshan-Leitner said.

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