Court rules that compensation payments to terrorist victims from Second intifada to be doubled

DECEMBER 15, 2024 12:40

President of the Shurat HaDin organization, Attorney Nitsana Darshan Leitner. (photo credit: SHURAT HADIN) — President of the Shurat HaDin organization, Attorney Nitsana Darshan Leitner.

(photo credit: SHURAT HADIN)

The Jerusalem District Court has ruled that a lien to secure compensation payments to victims of terrorism from the Second Intifada will be doubled to NIS 1 Billion.

The President of the Jerusalem District Court, Justice Moshe Sobel, handed down a decision to seize an additional half a billion shekels from the Palestinian Authority’s tax funds, which will be secured for payment of the judgment for compensation to 20 bereaved families of victims of terrorism from the Second Intifada in what is known as the “Norzitz cases” lawsuit led by the Shurat HaDin organization.

Four years ago, the Court imposed an attachment of half a billion shekels following a historic ruling by Judge (retired) Moshe Drori in the lawsuit filed by the Shurat HaDin organization in the Norzitz cases against the Palestinian Authority.

This ruling determined that the PA was directly responsible for dozens of terrorist attacks during those years, which resulted in the murder and maiming of thousands of Israelis. The Court-ordered lien expressed the expectation of a financial judgment that was to be given to the plaintiffs in that case.

However, following the Supreme Court ruling, the amount of compensation that was ultimately awarded was much lower than the amount of the lien requested. The new law seeks to correct this injustice.

The Shurat HaDin organization explains that considering the Model Compensation Law that the Knesset recently enacted, the amount has increased immeasurably from what it was before, and therefore, a lien of NIS 1 billion was requested. These funds will be frozen from the Palestinian Authority for the benefit of the bereaved families, from the tax money that the State of Israel collects every month from the Authority pursuant to the Oslo Accords.

Moreover, these are precedent-setting civil lawsuits and rulings filed by the terror victims that have been heard in the courts for over two decades. The most prominent of these is the case of the family of the late reservist Vadim Norzic, who was brutally murdered in a lynching in Ramallah.

According to the President of the Shurat HaDin organization, Attorney Nitsana Darshan Leitner, “The determined fight against terrorism continues all the time, even within the walls of the Court. I welcome the additional attachment, a decision that guarantees that the amount of compensation will not be less than one billion shekels.

In our hard-fought struggle of 24 years, we are succeeding in bringing justice to the victims. Thanks to the new law, the State of Israel has a powerful tool that today proves how effective it is in the fight against terrorism. No more support for violence will be given by the Palestinians without paying a heavy price. We will continue with all our strength to choke off the oxygen pipes of terrorism and even prevent the next October 7.”