The Jerusalem District Court, in a landmark decision 10 years in the making, ruled on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority can be sued in Israeli court for damages suffered by an Israeli Arab tortured and kidnapped by their security forces on suspicion of spying for Israel.
The case will not only enable Arab victims of PA intimidation to find justice, but will allow terror victims to sue the PA for compensation.
According to a report by The Times of Israel, the case was brought in 2002 by a man who was suspected by the PA of being an informant for Israel. In 1999, the man was kidnapped twice – once in Israeli-controlled Hebron and once in Jerusalem outside the school in which he taught. PA security forces allegedly tortured Rajoub during questioning, even firing a gun next to his head in a mock execution.
He was severely disabled, and tried bringing a suit against the PA in Israeli court for NIS 10 million. However, the PA said it could not be sued in Israeli court, and that the man should attempt to sue in PA court.
Judge Moshe Drori ruled that the man could sue the PA in Israeli court for injuries and suffering, and set in motion deliberation over the amount of compensation to be paid out. The method of extracting the settled amount is undetermined.