A European Commission spokesperson told EUROPE on Friday 7 May that the EU had taken action following accusations the previous day made by Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, that funds from the EU – as well as from Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium, Sweden, Spain and Switzerland – had been diverted from Palestinian NGOs to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an armed group.
“As a matter of course, we look into each and every allegation made. We are studying the specific material shared with us”, the spokesperson explained.
He continued: “If there is clear evidence that any organisation has made inappropriate use of EU funds, the EU will take immediate appropriate measures to protect the integrity and proper use of its funds”. In the meantime, the spokesperson explained that the Union had suspended two ongoing projects to give them time to conduct an immediate audit of activities.
According to the Shin Bet, as quoted by AFP, seven civil society groups involved in humanitarian work in the West Bank have “defrauded and deceived several European countries” with funds transferred to the PFLP amounting to several million euros. These groups who were working with the PFLP allegedly used fake projects, inflated invoices, falsified bank documents and inflated salaries to deceive donors. The investigation is said to have started about two years ago with documents they have uncovered showing money laundering mainly taking place since 2014, but with some cases going back as far as 2006.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned “the ambassadors of the European countries” in question and “Israeli diplomats in Europe met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs for each of these countries” to present their evidence. The Commission spokesperson did not say whether the EU ambassador to Israel had been summoned. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)