PA, PLO ordered to pay terror victims, but lower amount than expected

Published: MARCH 12, 2023 22:06

Route 443 north of Jerusalem (photo credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT) — Route 443 north of Jerusalem

(photo credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)

The High Court ruled on Sunday that the organizations must pay NIS 15 million to the victims, and further punitive damage decisions for next of kin were returned to the court.

The Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Liberation Organization were ordered by the High Court of Justice on Sunday to pay punitive damages to women injured in a terrorist attack that killed their parents and uncle, but the amount was lower than expected.

The PA and PLO had appealed a 2014 lower court ruling for NIS 62 million in damages to the family of Sharon and Yaniv Ben-Shalom, and Sharon's brother Doron, who were killed in 2001. The High Court ruled on Sunday that the organizations must pay NIS 15 million to the victims, and further punitive damage decisions for next of kin were returned to the court. This would also depend on the ability of these family members to provide documents from psychiatrists confirming mental impact due to the murder of their parents. The lawsuit had been first submitted in 2008.

Response to judgement

"The compensation amount is a mockery. They committed a sin in the courts when they overturned the previous ruling of Judge Drori who tried to slightly raise the punishment and financial demand so that the Israeli court would follow the path of American courts and impose high compensations on the PA," said Lt. Col. (res.) Meir Indor, Chairman of the Alamagor terror victim association.

Indor said that American courts respected its citizens more that Israeli courts, and the women would have received more compensation.

The ruling "conveys a kind of tolerance for the Palestinian Authority and its people even when they are actually participating in the murder of Israelis," said Indor.

A woman mourns during the funeral of slain Jewish settler Sharon Ben-Shalom and her husband Yaniv during a ceremony in Petah Tikva August 26, 2001. Two settlers, a married couple, were killed as they drove home in the West Bank near the city of Ramallah Saturday evening. Sharon's brother, an off-du (credit: RKR/CLH/ via REUTERS)

The case centered around the 2001 Route 443 terrorist attack on the Ben-Shalom family. The girls were 20-months and eight-months old when their family vehicle was ambushed and shot with a barrage of bullets.

It was found by the district court that weapons and funds supporting the terrorist attack were transferred to the commanders of the terrorist cell that committed the attack, and the Palestinian bodies knew and understood the purpose of the materials.

One of the Palestinian leaders who had knowledge of the 2001 shooting was Marwan Barghouti.