In a precedent-setting ruling, an Israeli court on Tuesday ordered the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization to pay tens of millions of shekels in compensation to victims of a 2001 suicide bombing and their families.
The Jerusalem District Court’s ruling is based on a 2022 Supreme Court judgment affirming the PA’s liability for damages caused by terrorists. The court’s decision is expected to set a precedent, potentially enabling compensation claims by victims of other attacks, including those from the October 7 massacre.
“The ruling is very correct and very important. The Palestinian Authority has been a driving force for terror, certainly since the intifada period. Holding them responsible is both an act of justice as well as an act of deterrence, to deter them from inciting people to terror,” Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch told The Press Service of Israel.
On August 9, 2001, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up inside a busy Sbarro’s restaurant in downtown Jerusalem. The blast killed 16 people, including seven children and a pregnant woman. Another 130 people were injured. One of the fatalities, Chana Nachenberg, was comatose for 22 years before dying in 2023.
Under the ruling, victims’ families may claim around 10 million shekels ($2.6 million) per fatality. Since 2018, Israel has been withholding funds earmarked for the PA, diverting them to cover debts and legal compensations. These garnished funds are now expected to finance the payouts.
The Palestinian Authority allocates seven percent of its annual budget for its so-called “Martyr’s Fund,” which provides the stipends. The size of the monthly payouts is primarily determined by the duration of the terrorist’s incarceration, with a negligible additional factor based on family size.
Marcus told TPS-IL that the Palestinian Authority has paid around $1.5 million to eight recipients associated with the Sbarro’s bombing.
Ramallah has been paying out stipends for years, but the issue came under a spotlight following the murder of Taylor Force, a U.S. citizen killed by a Palestinian who went on a stabbing rampage in Jaffa in 2018. Congress passed the Taylor Force Act, which halted U.S. aid to the Palestinians as long as terror stipends are being paid out.
Israeli officials say the stipends provide incentives for terror and regularly offset an equivalent amount from taxes that Israel collects on behalf of the PA. The new law allows families to collect judgments against the PA from the frozen funds.
U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority resumed under the administration of President Joe Biden. In December 2022, American victims of Palestinian terror filed a lawsuit against the President and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, arguing that the payments violate the Taylor Force Act.
Despite claiming to be operating at a 172% budget deficit, the Palestinian Authority in July recognized 899 new prisoners from Gaza and tens of thousands more Gaza “martyrs” as eligible for the “pay for slay” payouts.
The attack also became a source of friction between Jordan and the US.
Israel convicted a Palestinian-Jordanian woman, Ahlam Tamimi, for scouting the location of the attack, helping smuggle the bomb into Jerusalem, and escorting the bomber, Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri, to the site. She was sentenced to 16 life terms but was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange of 2011. US citizens were among the fatalities and Washington has been seeking Tamimi’s extradition.
Tamimi lives freely in Jordan and Amman has refused Washington’s extradition requests.
