The Israeli legal organization Shurat HaDin Law Center announced on Monday that it had submitted a formal complaint to the US Department of Justice, calling for a federal national security investigation into the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), its officers, representatives, funders, and affiliated organizations. The group is also urging US authorities to impose sanctions on the organization and its leadership.
Shurat HaDin, an Israeli legal rights organization focused on combating terrorism and antisemitism through litigation and legal advocacy, said the complaint asks the Department of Justice to coordinate an investigation with the FBI, the US Department of State, the US Department of the Treasury, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
According to the complaint, investigators should determine "who funds, directs, coordinates, services, and benefits from HRF’s campaign; whether HRF’s activities are connected to Hezbollah, Iran, the IRGC, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, or any sanctioned person or entity; whether HRF’s campaign against Israeli, American, and dual-national service members involves doxing, cyberstalking, harassment, threats, conspiracy, material support, or misuse of communications systems; and whether U.S. financial institutions, platforms, professional service providers, or nonprofit intermediaries are facilitating the campaign."
The filing also requests that US authorities examine whether HRF and its network are acting on behalf of foreign principals in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), receiving support from hostile foreign actors, or providing services that benefit designated terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and Iran-backed entities.
The complaint states: "Perhaps the most troubling unanswered question surrounding HRF is who finances and directs it. 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 also requested that federal authorities consider sanctions, designations, immigration measures, and other interagency action if an investigation confirms terrorist-linked support, services, direction, or coordination.
The organization described HRF's activities as a coordinated international campaign intended to identify, track, publicly expose, intimidate, and pursue Israeli soldiers, reservists, veterans, and, increasingly, Israeli-American dual nationals through criminal complaints and legal proceedings in multiple jurisdictions.
The submission further raises concerns regarding HRF's leadership, including what Shurat HaDin described as publicly reported ties between its chairman and the Hezbollah terrorist organization, as well as alleged operational alignment with Iran-backed interests. It calls on US authorities to determine whether the organization's activities are coordinated, financed, or otherwise supported by designated 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. 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 continued, “Today’s targets are Israeli soldiers. Tomorrow they could be American servicemen and women who fight terrorism. 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. The Department of Justice must investigate who is funding these operations, who is directing them, and whether they are serving the interests of America’s enemies.”
According to Shurat HaDin's submission, "The threat is now plainly American. HRF has publicly pursued Israeli-American citizens and dual nationals, both in the United States and abroad."