Bnei Akiva is the largest religious Zionist youth movement. Recently the Bnei Akiva, Los Angeles held an ‘Evening of Jewish Heroism’ in which they hosted Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an Israeli attorney, a Jewish rights activist, and the director of Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center.
What is the connection between the youth movement and this Law Center? Having values and having strength. To instill in the young generation the belief that everyone can make the difference.
The emcees of the evening were Vic Mellon and Chavee Lerer. David Segal, Israel’s Consul General to USA West Coast spoke and told the audience that in his youth he was a member of Bnei Akiva and there he learned Jewish values, Zionism and the love for the Jewish State Israel. That Jewish leadership encapsulates in Bnei Akiva. After all, Naftali Bennett, the new person on Israel’s political skies was a member of Bnei Akiva as well.
StandWithUs (SWU) once stated that, ‘if there was no Bnei Akiva, there would be no SWU’.
And twenty graduates of Bnei Akiva are now members of the Knesset. And that speaks volume. It appears that Beni Akiva is playing a significant role in Israel and the Jewish nation’s future.
The highlight of the evening was the mesmerism speech by Mrs. Darshan-Leitner, a story of bankrupting terrorism – one law suit at a time. What Nitsana and her team do no conventional method can do; they defy terrorism through their pocket book. Without money terrorists cannot buy rockets or guns and thus cannot kill the innocent, cannot be terrorists.
In the Bible, Parashat Yitro, the fifth episode in the book of Exodus marks the beginning of the Jewish Nation – and the world – legal system.
Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law arrives to the camp of the Israelites with Zipporah, Moses’ wife and her children. Moses receives him and tells him about the miracles made at their flight from Egypt, and in response Jethro praises G-d. Next day Jethro sees how Moses judges the people all alone, and offers him to make a change in the system: to appoint, under him, head-ministers of thousands, hundreds, fifty and tenths who will mediate between him and the people on the milder cases. Moses asks G-d and God allows him to appoint, and so Moses appoints judges, and Jethro then returns to his country.
The Children of Israel arrived to Mount Sinai and camped at the foot of the mountain. Moses goes up the mountain and gets a message from G-d to the Israelites that they stand to sign an alliance with Him and become His “Chosen People.” The Children of Israel agree, and Moses prepares them for receive the Torah.
After three days of preparation the event at Mount Sinai takes place. G-d is revealed on the mountain though thunder and lightning and gives the people the Ten Commandments, the basis of all universal law. The Children of Israel find it difficult to experience divine revelation directly and ask Moses to mediate between them and G-d. After the Ten Commandments episode comes the episode that deals with the law of the altar. And so a Jewish nation under the law of G-d began.
Fast forward, when Nitsana established her law center, in 2002, she arrived at the conclusion that what unifies all of Israel’s foes is their hate for the state of Israel and Jews and there is no end in sight and so there must be consequences.
Since banks keep paper trail that can attest to money paid, deliberately and intentionally to terrorists and suicide bombers Nitsana set her center to follow the banks’ paper trail and get the banks to pay compensations to terror victims through the courts. To bring banks to the point they will not agree to open an account for terror organizations, or individual terrorists, or open branches in terror land. For instance, there are no banks in Gaza. It is all cash and carry there.
The formula: if you cut the money well you stop terror, to a large degree or all together. You stop the flow of funds you end the life of terror. One case, if the European Union stops funding Hezbollah, this terror organization’s life will cease in no time.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner and Shurat HaDin are vigorously going after all the banks they have a hint, or they are suspicious to be involved, in one way or another, with terror group and terrorists. The slogan, ‘we are trying to make banking much harder for terrorists’.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner and Shurat HaDin is determined not to let the terrorists kill Israeli children and they will fight them back.
The United States congress passed a rule that the right of a terror victim to seek judgment overrides any other claim. This rule opened a wide window to go, according the law, after the banks. Only recent Shurat HaDin found that the bank of China opened an account for Hamas and the bank will now have to deal with the law center. That will end in favor of the Law Center.
Nitsana’s stories can made into a movie. She won cases and received millions of dollars in compensation for terror victims and froze billions of dollars that belong to terrorists. She also found a way to go after officials from Iran for crimes against humanity and made them scared. And because of Shurat HaDin, the second and larger planned flotilla to Gaza was canceled.
When Israel’s foes realized that they cannot win militarily they waged lawfare and lawfare they will get. The generals in charge of this battle are Nitsana Darshan-Leitner and Shurat HaDin Law Center. While seeking justice, they are also winning their cases and that is good news for any terror victim and bad news for terror, mainly Islamoterror.
Because of constraints no government can do what Nitsana Darshan-Leitner and Shurat HaDin do. They ban terrorism one lawsuit, one case at the time. And as Nitsana claims, “between then and us, we will win.”
In 2012 Darshan-Leitner won the Moskowitz Prize for Zionism for her daily devotion to preserve the dignity of the state of Israel. Her persistence and professionalism resulted in achievements that not everyone in Israel, in particular, and the world in general, are aware of People like her are a symbol for all humanity.
Bnei Akiva and Nitsana Darshan-Leitner believe in Zionism; that you fight for what you believe, you fight for the truth, you fight for your values and for your existence.
To that I say Amen!
