The caucus for the fight against antisemitism and BDS in the Knesset called for the immediate closure and ban of "The Center for the Protection of the Individual" on Tuesday.
The caucus convened for an emergency discussion following an investigation by the right-wing group "Ad Kan" detailing the activities of "The Center for the Protection of the Individual."
The Center's basic ideology
The investigation quotes Dalia Kirshtein, founder of the Center and its CEO for 30 years, allegedly supporting a third intifada and showing an understanding for the "elegant" murder of Jews.
In the documentation Kirshtein is reported saying: "I am not in a position to advise the Palestinians what to do. I assume they will have another intifada. I hope it happens... I can understand why in such a struggle you have to kill every now and then."
In addition, she stated that: "I would be happy to see the BDS movement grow a lot. That's why I signed the petition. I don't think Israel should be a Jewish state, it should be a state of all its citizens." Regarding Yad Vashem she added: "I think it's a very serious research institution, but it plays a political and dirty role."
Among the MKs in attendance at the meeting were the caucus chairman, Likud MK Ariel Kallner; Likud MKs Boaz Bismuth, and Avihai Bowaron; and Religious Zionist Party MKs Limor Son Har-Melech, Zvi Sukkot and Ohad Tal, among others.
The investigation alleged that the Center had become a kind of "executive arm" of the Palestinian Authority's Prisoners Office, which refers terrorists and their families to the Center immediately after carrying out attacks in order to receive legal help.
Assistance to terrorists and their families
According to Ad Kan, Kirshtein's directly supports families of terrorists. Ad Kan, for example, discovered that the Center worked to prevent the demolition of a terrorist's home, even though his family members were arrested on suspicion that they knew of his intention to carry out an attack, and his mother was convicted of failure to prevent a crime.
"There is no terrorism without [protection]," Kallner said. "As revealed in the investigation so far, the Center for the Protection of the Individual is not a human rights organization, it is an organization that denies the existence of the State of Israel. It is difficult to finance such an organization through people who live in Israel and experience terrorism firsthand, and therefore they go to Europe, present themselves as a human rights organization, and collect money."
"This situation cannot continue, the State of Israel cannot allow it to exist as a human rights organization, or as a recognized association in Israel."