Triumph: Musi Raz withdraws petition against Honenu

Tuesday, February 23, 2016, 7:58 One day before the Israeli Supreme Court was scheduled to rule on the matter, Musi Raz, a left-wing activist and the Secretary-General of Meretz, asked the court to withdraw his petition against Honenu. Raz, who was in the sixth place on the Meretz list at the last election, but not elected to the Knesset, demanded that Honenu’s tax-exempt status as a charitable organization be revoked, claiming that Honenu assists and encourages individuals who carry out acts of terror.
Despite the fact that Honenu has been continuously operating for over 14 years, during which time approximately 30,000 soldiers, policeman, and civilians, and their families have been assisted, Raz chose to file his petition four days prior to the last national elections, in what appeared to be an attempt to use the High Court of Justice for political gains.
Professor Aviad HaCohen, Dean of The Academic Center of Law and Science, who represented Honenu, stated that the petition should be rejected out of hand and the petitioner should be required to pay court expenses. According to Professor HaCohen the petition was completely baseless both factually and on legal grounds. The petition also included erroneous data that could have deceived the court and constituted a genuine lack of integrity. The petitioner never even once contacted Honenu in order to verify the “facts” he presented in his petition, and despite that, he attached an affidavit to his petition “which verified their correctness,” supposedly. Additionally, as with all of Honenu’s activities, the matter of its tax-exempt status has been checked from time to time, usually after a media storm led by Uri Blau and Yariv Oppenheimer. No fault has ever been found with Honenu’s activities.
In responses to the petition, which were presented several days ago, the tax authorities and Honenu rejected out of hand the claims of the petitioner, and asserted that the petition is completely baseless.
In a final attempt to save his honor Raz requested for the second time that the date of the deliberation on the case be postponed. After that request was denied he chose to request that his petition be canceled.