Israel’s Registrar of Associations has asked the Haifa District Court to dissolve a Shfar’am-based charity after an investigation uncovered serious irregularities involving hundreds of thousands of shekels transferred to organizations in Turkey.
The dissolution request targets the Sakhaa Abu Nidal Association, which was registered in 2021 with the stated purpose of providing money, food and clothing to people in need, as well as assisting Syrian refugees in Jordan and Turkey.
According to the registrar, the final destination of the transferred funds could not be traced, meaning their use for “terror financing or other illegal activity” could not be ruled out.
The filing states that the organization transferred a combined $75,200 to three entities registered in Turkey during 2023. Its accounting records show that approximately NIS 277,000 was transferred abroad that year out of a total operating budget of approximately NIS 421,000.
An additional $25,000 was transferred to a Turkish organization in 2024. The charity listed NIS 94,850 in “overseas donations” that year out of total activity amounting to NIS 186,177.
Recipients reportedly included the Turkish clothing retailer LC Waikiki, a food and beverage company and an organization whose name was translated as the “Damascus Orphans Association.”
One of the charity’s directors told investigators that the entities were used to purchase clothing and other supplies for distribution to Syrian refugees.
However, the registrar said the charity failed to provide documentation identifying which products were purchased, the quantities involved, when they were distributed or the recipients who received them. Authorities said there was no sufficient evidence proving that the claimed products were purchased or delivered to those in need.
The filing also alleges that despite transferring large sums to Turkey, the organization declared in its 2023 and 2024 reports that it had no activity outside Israel. The registrar described those statements as “false reporting.”
The charity claimed it decided to stop operating abroad following the October 7 massacre. However, according to the filing, it continued transferring money to Turkey throughout 2024 and did not end its overseas activity until February 2025.
Investigators also identified concerns involving conflicts of interest and the failure of the organization’s governing bodies to function properly. The only two active board members and authorized signatories were reportedly a married couple, while other registered board members did not perform their responsibilities.
The registrar said the findings were not isolated irregularities that could be corrected, but serious failures affecting the core operations of the charity. The court is now being asked to issue an order dissolving the organization.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
