Omar Barghouti. Photo: YouTube screenshot.

JNS.org – The co-founder of the worldwide Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has been arrested for tax evasion, Israeli business news outlet Globes reported Monday.

Omar Barghouti was arrested by Israeli authorities on suspicion of dodging some $700,000 in taxes from 2007 to 2017, earned when he was serving as director of the Ramallah-based National Computing Resources, which markets and rents ATMs, as well as other technology, within the areas under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction. He had allegedly hid his income from Israeli authorities by storing money in a Ramallah bank.

Barghouti reportedly hid additional earnings from book royalties and a global speaking tour via a US bank account.

The Israel Police supported the charges against Barghouti with transaction records and credit cards discovered at the BDS founder’s Acre residence.

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Following an interrogation by authorities in Haifa, Barghouti was released on bail, but is subject to a travel ban and cannot leave the country.

Barghouti has been a leading proponent for the destruction of the Jewish state, saying in 2013, “We are witnessing the rapid demise of Zionism, and nothing can be done to save it…I, for one, support euthanasia.”