Israel Prize winner Professor David Shulman has declared he will donate all of his prize money to the anarchist Ta'ayush organization, whose leader was recently revealed to have handed over Arabs for torture at the hands of Palestinian Authority security forces.
In a video promoting his activity with Taayush, initially reported by the left-wing Haaretz news site, Shulman said he considered rejecting the Israel Prize in protest of the recent police investigations into the extremist group's activists, most notably its notorious leader Ezra Nawi. He described attempts to prosecute them for handing over Arabs who sold land to Jews to PA security forces, as "the hounding of Taayush activists and peace and human rights activists, at the hands of the right-wing establishment who perpetuate the occupation."
Instead, however, he decided to accept the prize - and donate all 75,000 shekels in prize money (nearly $20,000) to Taayush.
The granting of the Israel Prize to Shulman was a topic of controversy ever since Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) confirmed he would be one of a number of Israeli professors to receive the prestigious award.
At the time Bennett insisted it would be improper to exclude a nominee purely for his or her political views.
Watch: Professor Shulman discusses his support for Taayush (Hebrew):