Honenu Director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad; Photo credit: Honenu
Friday, September 5, 2025, 13:32 Yesterday (Thursday), Honenu revealed that the Jewish Department of the GSS had been gathering intelligence about the organization and its operations in order to “take Honenu down.” 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. According to information that Honenu Director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad received, on one occasion a senior official in the GSS said, “Let’s take them down.”
Knesset members and ministers reacted strongly to the revelation and called for the Jewish Department of the GSS to be shut down immediately.
Knesset Minister May Golan said, “Thanks to Honenu we are exposed time after time to the criminal and illegal treatment of settlers and right-wingers [by the GSS]. Certain officials in the GSS do not want us to reveal their position that right-wingers have no rights in the State of Israel. I, together with many others, demand immediate explanations. Who authorized taking action against a legal aid organization?! Did the Attorney General give written approval? Are similar actions being taken against organizations that assist – excuse the comparison – terrorists?! Or does the Supreme Court have an open-door policy for those contemptible organizations?! This is not selective enforcement. This is draconian, one-sided enforcement. This revelation should shock everyone for whom the State of Israel is important. If we remain silent, we will lose the right to genuine democracy in Israel.”
Knesset Member Tali Gottlieb added: “I implore the Israeli government to immediately shut down the Jewish Department of the GSS! The Jewish Department spends its time defaming right-wingers, in particular residents of Yehuda and Shomron. As of now, the dangerous department head who fabricated evidence leading to the detention of Jewish settlers has, of course, been neither detained nor interrogated. This disgraceful department is maintaining a narrative that slanders Jews, right-wingers, settlers. The most recent publication revealing that the GSS is persecuting the important Honenu organization is the very tip of the iceberg! The thuggish power of the Jewish Department of the GSS should disturb every fair- minded Israeli citizen, other than left-wingers, of course. Left-wingers, as is well known, are immune from prosecution. The GSS neither interrogates nor monitors them.”
Knesset Member Limor Son Har-Melech further stated, “This is not a mistake. This is a method. The Jewish Department of the GSS was founded to persecute Jewish communities in Yehuda and Shomron and their residents. Today it was revealed again. The Jewish Department has acted against Honenu, the legal aid organization on the front line defending IDF soldiers, police officers, and Jewish residents of Yehuda and Shomorn. When a senior official in the GSS says, ‘Let’s take them down,’ that is a statement of policy. With this way of thinking, the GSS directs its full weight not against the Arab enemy, but against those who dedicate their lives for the Land of Israel. Threats to Honenu are threats to Jewish communities in Yehuda and Shomron. As long as this department exists, it will continue to turn its energy inward against the nationalist camp. The time has come to say in a clear voice: The Jewish Department of the GSS must be shut down.”