Thursday, September 4, 2025, 16:55 Honenu has been informed that the Jewish Department of the GSS gathered intelligence about the organization and its operations in order to “take Honenu down.” Personal details about Honenu Director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad, the organization’s founder were also gathered. Meidad stated that the GSS has crossed a red line, and that this is possibly the first instance of the GSS acting against a civil society organization that provides legal counsel to persecuted citizens.
Senior officials in the GSS were exposed to documents and reports of actions carried out by agents in the Jewish Department of the GSS pertaining to Honenu. These senior officials revealed the information to Honenu. In addition, detainees being interrogated by the GSS who were represented by attorneys from Honenu were asked about the organization, how they were represented, and about the organization’s attorneys. This is an illegal and reprehensible practice. The investigating authorities are not supposed to act against the legal representation in a case.
Honenu Director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad (Hebrew); Video credit: Honenu
Honenu Director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad related a phone call he received from the GSS: “A senior official in the GSS called me and said that he had something very important and urgent to tell me. I shared the call with Attorney Yossi Ben Baruch on the phone in order to have a witness to the conversation. He [senior GSS official] said, ‘Listen, I know, and I have it from a reliable source, that the GSS came to a decision to take Honenu, and you, down.’ I asked him, ‘Me, or Honenu?’ He replied, ‘No, no. You too, personally.’ I asked, ‘How?’ He told me, ‘Any way they can.’ I was shocked.
“Five-ten seconds later, I recalled what happened to me 25 years ago, when I founded Honenu. Many of my friends asked me, ‘You aren’t worried that the GSS will harass you?’ And I would always answer that my wife told me not to fear. I’m a lot more afraid of her. Threats will not deter us. We will continue to assist, to the best of our abilities, soldiers, police officers, and civilians who find themselves in legal entanglements due to defending themselves against Arab aggression, or due to their love for Israel,” concluded Meidad.