Meet Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, a Warrior fighting terrorism one lawsuit at a time

    I recently had the honor of reuniting with Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an amazing woman that I hold to the highest regard, at the Jerusalem Conference this past month in NYC. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner is a prominent Israeli activist, attorney, and the founder of Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center, a Tel Aviv-based civil rights organization specializing in “lawfare” against terrorist networks and entities that seek to delegitimize Israel. Over a career spanning nearly three decades, she has pioneered the use of civil litigation to target the financial infrastructure of terrorist groups, recovering over $200 million in compensation for victims of terror. Born in 1973, she earned her law degree from Bar-Ilan University and an MBA from the University of Manchester. She is a mother of six children, including a set of triplets, and resides in Israel.

    Nitsana isn’t just an attorney, she’s a warrior on the legal battlefield, standing up for terror victims and defending the Jewish State where it matters most: in the courts. As the president of Shurat HaDin, Israel Law Center, Nitsana has led legal battles against Hamas, Hezbollah, the PLO, Iran, Syria, banks that launder money for terrorists, and even global corporations that cave to anti-Israel pressure. Because of the work she leads in Shurat HaDin, Terror victims have won hundreds of millions in compensation, Banks now refuse to fund terror groups, Social media platforms have been challenged for hosting incitement, Boycotts against Israelis have been overturned and Iran’s global assets are being hunted, legally. Acting on an insight to “follow the money,” Darshan-Leitner files civil lawsuits on behalf of individual terror victims to seize the assets of groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as sponsor states like Iran, Syria, and North Korea.

    Her legal campaigns extend to cryptocurrency exchanges facilitating terror crowdfunding, social media networks like Facebook and YouTube for permitting incitement, and international bodies such as UNRWA. She aggressively prosecutes entities advocating for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, notably winning a high-profile legal battle against Airbnb after the company temporarily delisted Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria. Under her direction, Shurat HaDin actively counters war crime allegations targeting Israeli soldiers in international forums like the ICC and runs global legal support networks for troops.

    She co-authored the national bestseller Harpoon: Inside the Covert War Against Terrorism’s Money, which details her organization’s historical collaboration with the Israeli Mossad’s specialized financial warfare unit. She has been recognized globally, frequently ranking on the Jerusalem Post’s list of the 50 Most Influential Jews in the World and Forbes Israel’s list of the 50 Most Influential Israeli Women.

    As I reunited with Nitsana, I asked her “what is the biggest initiative that you are working on now as we fight the Global fight on terror and antisemitism?” Her answer was that “we are currently fighting the battle on three fronts. One is that we are fighting against the financing of terror, especially since the October 7th attacks happened against Israel and was subsidized by the terror Group Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Iran and everyone that assisted. The second is suing the Media front such as Al-Jazeera and taking action against the New York Times for aiding and abetting Hamas. The third one is protecting IDF soldiers from false War Crimes allegations and genocide.” Whether it is on the physical battlefield (as our valiant IDF Warriors defend Israel on a daily basis), the battlefield of public opinion or the Legal battlefield, I thanked Nitsana for helping pave the way to defend the Nation of Israel on all fronts in a War of good versus evil.