Iran Funding Islamic Jihad and Fatah Terror Groups

Amihai Zippor, Israel Hasbara Committee:

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Iran is directly funding Palestinian terror groups in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, in an effort to indirectly perpetrate attacks against Israel and spread its influence throughout the region.

“We know that Iran transferred in the last month $1.8 million to the Islamic Jihad organization in order to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel,” Mofaz told Ynetnews.com in an interview on Tuesday 21 March 2006. READ MORE

“This is direct aid from Iran, from which most of the money is transferred through Syria and from there to the Islamic Jihad in Judea and Samaria,” he said.

In a separate interview with The Jerusalem Post, Mofaz said Israel was doing all it could “by law” to stop the money channels but many often succeed in transferring the funds.

Meanwhile, in a report in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag on 6 March, Zakaria Zubeidi, chief of the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin admitted that his organization, the military wing of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party, receives direct financial assistance from Hizbullah.

Hizbullah is a terrorist organization funded by Iran and supported by Syria that perpetrates attacks on northern Israel from Lebanon.

“Without the assistance of our Hizbullah brothers, we would not have been able to persist with our struggle,” Zubeidi said, noting the aid comes in the form of money, arms and military training.

While Zubeidi’s statement is not surprising, the increased role by Iran in uniting the major Palestinian terrorist groups through its funding and its pledge to help the new Hamas-led Palestinian Authority is disturbing. It has created a new strategic threat on Israel’s borders and if it is not stopped, it will most definitely contribute to the crumbling of the fragile stability in the region.