Shurat Hadin's legal warrior is bringing justice to terror victims
#47: Nitsana Darshan-Leitner
By YONAH JEREMY BOBNitsana Darshan-Leitner(photo credit: Courtesy)Shurat Hadin director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner has been known to fight a dual front of bringing justice to terror victims from years passed, along with pushing the envelope against BDS activity, and 2019 was no exception.Only a few months ago, she obtained a Jerusalem District Court ruling holding the Palestinian Authority liable for civil damages for a series of terrorist attacks carried out mostly during the Second Intifada.With liability decided against the PA, the court case has moved to the next stage where the plaintiffs will need to prove their damages, which could add up to as much as NIS 1 billion.READ NO. 46: RUSSEL ROBINSON>>READ NO. 48: JENNIFER LASZLO-MIZRAHI>>See the full list of The World's Most Influential People>>Only a few months earlier, a Shurat Hadin lawsuit against Airbnb helped get the online rental giant to rescind its decision to remove ads of Jewish homeowners in Judea and Samaria.Airbnb had said in November 2018 that it would ban Jewish property owners living in the West Bank from advertising on its site following objections from groups seeking to boycott Israel.Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the online rental giant agreed to repeal the discriminatory policy, resolving the discrimination lawsuit Shurat Hadin had filed in a federal court in Delaware on behalf of a group of US citizens.Amid the legal victories, Darshan-Leitner is building on sharing a fuller story about herself and her group’s past work – independent of but also alongside the Mossad.
Last fall, former government sources told The Jerusalem Post that Israel’s Operation Harpoon – carried out by a range of Mossad, Shin Bet and other operatives – was revolutionary in that it was “not just about following the money, but about destroying terrorists’ money networks.”The development and achievements of Harpoon against terror financing, including by groups of lawyers like Shurat Hadin, captured the headlines as Darshan-Leitner’s 2018 book about the operations and lawsuits was released.Following publication of the book, Darshan-Leitner increased her programming of Mossad-intelligence related tours for foreign visitors, creating a new genre for visiting Israel.When it comes to Darshan-Leitner, you can turn your head for just a moment, and you never know what new challenge she will have jumped forward to confront.
