New information reveals even deeper connections between Hezbollah and the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a new Belgium-based NGO with a declared mission to prosecute former Israeli soldiers abroad.
“Over 1,000 cases have been filed against Israeli soldiers across the globe,” a source told The Jerusalem Post. “This is a large operation, which requires an entire array of analysts, lawyers, and other workers. In other words, it requires a lot of money, and we may have found some of its sources.”
According to a Diaspora Affairs Ministry report in January that was published by the Post, HRF’s founder, Dyab Abou Jahjah, a Lebanese national with a history of Holocaust denial, homophobia, and support for terrorism, received training from Hezbollah in his early days, and he admitted to having lied to Belgian immigration authorities to facilitate obtaining asylum.
New information from former senior officials in the Israeli defense establishment, as well as a new Know Your Customer (KYC) system developed in Israel to combat terrorism funding (CFT), showed that HRF’s relations with Hezbollah are much deeper than thought at first and involve an elaborate network of Hezbollah-affiliated actors and companies in four continents.
The new information made available showed Abou Jahjah’s history as part of an intricate network of Hezbollah-affiliated companies and families of financiers and legal advisers, many of them designated by the US for their ties to the Iranian proxy terrorist group. They include Kassim Tajideen, a designated Hezbollah financier; and Salem Sleem, a registered lawyer of many companies designated as part of Hezbollah’s financial network.
Leaks have shown Abou Jahjah as being included in the US No Fly List, which indicates that US authorities consider him to have strong connections with terrorist activity.
The new available information showed a connection between Abou Jahjah and Salem Sleem, a prominent figure in Hezbollah’s legal advisory array, who is the registered lawyer of at least 24 Lebanese companies, many of which are either designated as Hezbollah-related by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) or controlled by individuals sanctioned for their ties to Hezbollah.
In addition to his working with Hezbollah-affiliated organizations, Sleem is also the registered attorney of a Lebanon-based company owned by Abou Jahjah, in addition to his father and two brothers, named “Sales Force.” According to the source, Sleem’s sister, Zeina, resides in Kinshasa, Congo, a hub for many of the companies led by designated Hezbollah financier Kassim Tajideen, and works for one of Tajideen’s companies there.
This further highlights the relationship between the designated Hezbollah financier and the lawyer representing many of Hezbollah’s designated companies, the source said.
Family ties
More of Abou Jahjah’s connections run through the family. His brother, Ziad, another owner of Sales Force, worked in the past in a Belgium-based company named Soafrimex (active 1989-2018), which was accused of trading in blood diamonds and financing Hezbollah and Abou Jahjah’s older organization, the Arab European League (AEL, active 2001-2006).
Soafrimex was owned by Tajideen, a Lebanese businessman designated by the OFAC as facilitating Hezbollah’s financial network through an array of companies in Lebanon and Africa, especially in Congo.
In 2017, Tajideen was also charged by the US district attorney for the District of Columbia with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, and violating global terrorism sanctions regulations. Tajideen pleaded guilty following his arrest by INTERPOL in Morocco.
In 2020, US authorities said Tajideen had been deported from the US to Lebanon upon attempting to enter the country.
Tajideen’s brother Hussein, who was also designated by OFAC for contributing to Hezbollah’s financial network, owned a food company in Brazil named Zaimex (active between 2008-2013), in which Abou Jahjah’s brother Ziad was a prominent shareholder.
A former Zaimex employee testified on her LinkedIn account that Zaimex had collaborated with several companies designated by the US for financing Hezbollah. Since Zaimex was active even after the 2010 designation of Tajideen and his companies, she told the Post, this means that the Brazilian company has breached sanctions by working with Hezbollah’s financing network directly or indirectly.
Ziad Abou Jahjah also owns a real-estate company in Czechia named Andromeda, whose sole documented activity is two unexplained large-scale maritime shipments of sugar weighing more than 45,000 kg. from Colombia. According to the source, this is especially notable as Colombia is notorious for being a hub for drug trafficking in which Hezbollah is famously involved.
Likewise, one prominent partner of Dyab Abou Jahjah is Karim Hassoun, who leads the Hind Rajab Foundation and has also joined Abou Jahjah in leading the AEL and another NGO named the March 30 Movement, the parent organization of HRF. According to a 2019 leak, Hassoun was also placed on the US No Fly List, further highlighting the US authorities’ view of his potential terrorism relations and activities.
Both Hassoun and Abou Jahjah have been found to co-own a company named Bellezza BV, which was registered in 2020, with its address located at what appears to be Hassoun’s home in Willebroek, Belgium. The company reported on its formal registration a variety of activities, including catering, operation of hotels and guesthouses, purchase and sale of real estate, and commercial intermediation.
No tangible, genuine activity was found, however, and no online presence has been registered. According to the source, this may imply dishonest and suspicious activity, especially taking into account the history and shared endeavors of both Hassoun and Abou Jahjah.
This new information indicates that Dyab Abou Jahjah was partnering with actors close to the network affiliated with Hezbollah financiers, legal advisers, and owned companies.
“All of the mentioned protagonists have shown numerous times their support for Hezbollah, for terrorism, for the October 7th attacks and even for taking more hostages,” the source said. “The HRF leaders demonstrate clear ties to extremist ideologies, terrorist-affiliated networks, and potentially illicit financial activities. Despite attempting to frame itself as legal advocacy, the foundation and its founders align with broader efforts to support Hezbollah economically and morally.”
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