The case of Palestinian NGO worker Mohammed el-Halabi has drawn criticism from Israel for several years.

Now there is a verdict - and it should reinforce the allegations that a politicized judiciary is at work here: On Wednesday afternoon, el-Halabi was found guilty, among other things, of diverting millions of euros to Hamas.

Christian Meier

Political correspondent for the Middle East and Northeast Africa.

  • Follow I follow

The oddities of the case were even reflected in the judgment of the Beersheba District Court itself: the 274-page decision is also classified.

Only a summary was published on Wednesday.

It shows that the three judges found el-Halabi guilty on all but one of the charges.

These include membership of, or providing information to, a terrorist organization, participating in prohibited military exercises, and carrying a weapon.

No sentence was announced.

El-Halabi and his employer had consistently denied the allegations.

The 45-year-old works for the non-governmental organization World Vision.

Since October 2014, el-Halabi has managed the projects of the worldwide Catholic aid organization in the Gaza Strip.

Barely two years later, he was arrested by Israel as he attempted to cross the Erez border crossing.

One of the allegations was that he had been a member of Hamas' military wing since 2004 and had been deliberately smuggled into World Vision.

The militant Palestinian organization has controlled the Palestinian coastal strip, which is largely sealed off from Israel and Egypt, since 2007.

World Vision under criticism

A few weeks after el-Halabi's arrest, the Israeli domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet, announced that he had made a confession.

The allegations were massive: he is said to have forwarded several tens of millions of dollars to Hamas for the purchase of weapons.

"If true, this would be possibly the greatest aid theft in history," wrote the British newspaper The Guardian.

Israel saw its allegations confirmed that Hamas was diverting aid funds for the Gaza Strip and using them for the fight against Israel.

Even then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented directly on the el-Halabi case.

In a video address, he said in English: "Hamas has stolen vital support for Palestinian children so they can kill our children.

I ask you – who cares more about the Palestinians?” Several governments, including Germany's, stopped supporting World Vision.

The organization then withdrew from the Gaza Strip and 120 employees were laid off.

However, it soon became apparent that the prosecution rested on weak foundations.

Several in-depth investigations into World Vision's projects in the Gaza Strip and into el-Halabi's activities have not revealed any irregularities.

Rather, some of the independent inspectors came to the conclusion that he had actively campaigned for the correct use of the funds.

However, Israel did not want to receive a corresponding report from World Vision.

Doubts about the correct procedure

The aid organization itself, meanwhile, pointed out that the alleged embezzlement of $50 million is hard to imagine given that World Vision's total budget in Gaza over the previous ten years was only about $22 million.

The judges now rejected this argument, saying it was "not necessary to make accurate calculations";

proof of the transfer of "significant sums" is sufficient.