[1] After the ban, an Israeli official told American media that arrests of the organizations' leadership was not being pursued, the goal was to cut off funding for the targeted groups.
[7][8] Al-Haq faced longstanding allegations by Israel of a connection to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; its executive director, Shawan Jabarin, spent eight years imprisoned without charge.
[15] In 2024 it was reported that Al-Haq, Addameer, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) had been targeted for a surveillance operation as part of a broader strategy, involving the IDF, Mossad, Shin Bet and other Israeli institutions, which sought to derail investigations by the international Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court into human rights abuses committed against Palestinians.
[17][14] After the ban, an Israeli official told American media that arrests of the organizations' leadership was not being pursued, the goal was to cut off funding for the targeted groups.
[12][10][18] According to the dossier, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, and the European Union provide funding to the six organizations.
According to +972 Magazine, "contrary to the Israeli Defense Ministry’s claims, the dossier did not provide a single piece of evidence proving the six organizations diverted their funds to the PFLP or to violent activities.
[21] The United Nations Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories stated that it was "the latest development in a long, stigmatising campaign against these and other organisations, damaging their ability to deliver on their crucial work".
[23] According to an article in openDemocracy, "the Israeli minister’s recent decision could be read as an attempt to silence Palestinian organizations and prevent them from providing" evidence to the ICC's Palestine investigation.
[25] Said Benarbia of the International Commission of Jurists said that "Israeli authorities are, once again, joining a long list of repressive States that use measures purportedly designed to counter terrorism as a pretext to crack down on legitimate human rights work".
[9] The American Bar Association does not take a position on the charges, but expressed concern that the organizations in question lacked a procedural opportunity to challenge the designation.
[17] Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem called it "an act characteristic of totalitarian regimes, with the clear purpose of shutting down these organisations”.
They add: "it simply cannot be accepted that well-known and widely respected Palestinian human rights groups be designated as “terrorist organizations” by executive fiat and on the basis of classified intelligence.
[13] Six months later, the Biden administration said it was still considering the evidence presented to it by the Israeli government, although eleven members of the House of Representatives cosponsored a resolution to condemn the ban.
"[12] British and American celebrities, including Mark Ruffalo, Peter Gabriel and Philip Pullman, also signed a statement condemning the ban.
[28] According to Middle East analyst Khaled Elgindy, the ban of the groups is part of Israel's strategy to delegitimize non-violent Palestinian resistance.