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Paul Landes (Hebrew: פול לנדס) is the founder and current Head of the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) of the Ministry of Defense in Israel since 2018. Previously, he served as Head of the “Harpoon” Unit at the Mossad (2015-2017) and as Head of the Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority (IMPA) in the Ministry of Justice (2009–2015).

Biography

Paul Landes earned a Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws with honors from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He served as a partner in the law firm Yehuda Raveh & Co., as the legal advisor of the Jerusalem Development Authority, and as the legal advisor at the “Derech Eretz Corporation,” which operates Highway 6. Landes serves as a lecturer on money laundering and terror financing prohibition at Reichman University and Bar-Ilan University. He is a Paratroopers Brigade colonel on the Israel Defense Forces Reserve duty.

In 2007, he was appointed as the legal adviser of the Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority (IMPA) in the Ministry of Justice. In November 2009, He was appointed as the acting director. In August 2010, the Israeli government appointed Landes as the director general. The IMPA was founded in 2002, based on the Prohibition on Money Laundering Law, 5760 (2000). It heads the struggle against money laundering and terror financing in Israel and aligns with worldwide parameters determined by the FATF. In 2012, Landes initiated a process for Israel to become a Financial Action Task Force member. In 2016, Israel was endowed with observer status, and in 2018, it became a full member. He was a member of two government committees: one, to limit the use of cash and second, for Financial Sanctions on Banking Corporations. He proposed an amendment to the money laundering prohibition law, which the Knesset accepted in 2014. Landes served as the Chairman of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units operative committee. He also served as an evaluator at Moneyval (in the Council of Europe), where he assessed compliance with regimes of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.

From 2015 to 2017, Landes was Head of the "Harpoon" Unit at the Mossad, in charge of terror financing information gathering. He proposed it would perform better as an official unit, cooperating internationally with similar anti-terror and money-laundering organs. Yossi Cohen, Head of the Mossad, advocated for Avigdor Lieberman, Ministry of Defense, to relocate Harpoon to his office. The Security Cabinet of Israel moved Harpoon’s jurisdiction to the Ministry of Defence.

The National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing (NBCTF) at the Ministry of Defense was founded in March 2018 to coordinate national operations to topple the monetary framework for terrorism. Its authority is delineated in the Counter-Terrorism Law, 5776 (2016). The Minister of Defense appoints the director of the NBCTF in discussions with the Prime Minister and reports directly to the Minister. NBCTF submits a yearly report Under the Deduction Law 2018, This gives an account of the disbursements to Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails under the Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund. Since its establishment in 2018 until December 2023, the National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing of Israel seized over $1 billion in terror funding. In 2023, it issued 363 orders involving freezing assets and seizing funds in NIS 642.91 million. The NBCTF froze hundreds of Tron wallets, and cryptocurrency accounts on the Binance exchange site linked to Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Iran's Quds Force. In August 2024, Israel imposed sanctions on 18 oil tankers that Iran’s Quds Force allegedly used to finance Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist groups. On March 2022, the NBCTF signed a MoU with the USA Department of Homeland Security to combat terrorist financing and collaborate in cybersecurity.

References

1. Amit Ben-Aroya (August 8, 2010). The government approved: Paul Landes was appointed Head of the Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority. TheMarker.
2. ^ Paul Landes. Reichman University.
3. Hadas Magen (April 11, 2007). Advocate Paul Landes was appointed the legal advisor for anti-money laundering. Globes.
4. Prohibition of Money Laundering and Terror Financing. Bar Ilan University.
5. Tomer Ganon (December 26, 2023). Israel seized over $1 billion in terror funding over the past five years. Calcalist (Hebrew).
6. Hebrew entry about the Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority (IMPA) in the Ministry of Justice in Israel
7. Hadas Magen (November 11, 2009). Paul Landes will head the government's anti-money laundering unit. Globes.
8. Itay Har-On (August 8, 2010). Paul Landes was appointed as the incumbent money laundering unit. Calcalist.
9. Prohibition on Money Laundering Law, 5760-2000. Israel Government.
10. About Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority.
11. Ela Levi-Weinrib (February 22, 2016). FATF grants Israel observer status. Globes.
12. Ela Levy-Weinrib (November 1, 2015). Israel wants to join the international anti-money laundering task force. Globes.
13. Yonah Jeremy Bob (February 10, 2022). Meet Israel's 'money sheriff' fighting money laundering, terror funding. The Jerusalem Post.
14. Chen Maanit (August 9, 2015). Landes incumbency: Leapfrogging in the battle of money laundering. Globes.
15. Yossi Nissan (October 10, 2013). Money laundering: Cal was fined 6 million NIS, and Leumi Card was fined 1.2 million shekels. Globes.
16. Yuval Yoaz (June 21, 2010). Advocates and accountants must disclose if their clients will carry out money laundering. Globes.
17. Money laundering prohibition law 2014 (13th amendment). The Knesset.
18. ^ Source of Authority.
19. Hebrew entry about "Harpoon" Unit at the Mossad
20. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner (2020). Harpoon: Inside the Covert War Against Terrorism's Money Masters. Hachette.
21. Assaf Gilead (December 22, 2023). What happened to Mossad's prestigious commando unit Harpoon, which waged financial combat against Hamas?. Globes.
22. Hebrew Entry about The National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing (NBCTF) at the Ministry of Defense in Israel
23. Source of Authority. National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing of Israel.
24. The Deduction Law, 2018. The Knesset. (It obliges the government to deduct the sum of money that the Palestinian Authority renders to terrorists from the taxes Israel collects).
25. Reports under the Deduction Law. National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing of Israel.
26. Tomer Ganon (December 27, 2023). Israel seized over $1 billion in terror funding over the past five years. Calcalist (in English).
27. Zachy Hennessey (February 5, 2024). Fintech leaders collaborate with Israel to counter terrorism financing worldwide. The Jerusalem Post.
28. Tom Wilson and Elizabeth Howcroft (November 30, 2023). Focus: New crypto front emerges in Israel's militant financing fight. Reuters.
29. Tom Wilson and Angus Berwick (May 5, 2023). Exclusive: Israel seized Binance crypto accounts to 'thwart' Islamic State, document shows. Reuters.
30. Milan Czerny/Shomrim (November 15, 2023). Israel failed to stop Hamas' cryptocurrency flow. Ynet.
31. Leo Schwartz (June 29, 2023). Israel smashes Hezbollah crypto network in historic seizure, credits Chainalysis and Binance. Fortune.
32. Ori Isaac (October 13, 2024). Israeli senior: Hezbollah must be overthrown financially. Hevrat HaHadashot.
33. Carrie Keller-Lynn (March 2, 2022). US and Israel to announce new cybersecurity collaboration framework Wednesday. The Times of Israel.

• People of the Mossad
• Israeli government officials
• Israeli jurists
• Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni