by Gilad Cohen
Court orders frozen funds to be seized by state following accusations Palestinian Authority continues to fund and direct terror against Israelis
The Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday issued a seizure order for NIS 160 million from funds intended for the Palestinian Authority (PA) as part of a lawsuit filed against it by the families of victims of Hamas’ October 7 attack. If the bereaved families win their lawsuit, the amount will be allocated for their compensation.
Dozens of bereaved families, including those who lost loved ones in the past year, filed a lawsuit against the PA in the Jerusalem District Court back in July demanding NIS 210 million from the authority.
Palestinian Authority Chair Mahmoud Abbas
(Photo: AP)
The funds were seized under the 2018 Law on Freezing Revenues Designated for the Palestinian Authority which includes the Payments to Prisoners and Families of Terrorism Offenders clause.
According to the 2018 law, Israel’s defense minister submits a report to the Security Cabinet at the end of each year detailing the total amount paid by the Palestinian Authority's Martyrs Fund to terrorists and their families in the previous year. The following year, an amount equal to 1/12 of the reported sum is frozen from the tax revenues Israel transfers to the PA each month.
Currently, NIS 2 billion is frozen in the state's treasury due to this law. The court has now decided to seize money from the fund and allocate it to the plaintiffs who sued the Palestinian Authority.
Memorial ceremony for victims of the Nova Music Festival
(Photo: Adam Kutub)
The lawsuit claims the Palestinian Authority initiates, supports and encourages terrorism against Israeli citizens and financially rewards terrorists through payments to them and their families. The lawsuit argues that the PA uses the "more blood equals more money” paradigm in these payments.
This is the first lawsuit by terror victims filed since the new Fund for Victims of Terror Law was passed in March. The law allows terror victims to sue those who fund terrorism and encourage attacks via payments to terrorists, granting NIS 10 million in compensation to families of those murdered in terrorist attacks and NIS 5 million to those injured.
The PA appealed against the law’s constitutionality, but the appeal was dismissed in a highly contentious hearing. The plaintiffs included bereaved families whose relatives were murdered in recent terrorist attacks including infiltrations into settlements, bombings in major cities and the October 7 massacre, including the one at the Nova Music Festival.
Arie Arbus, Barak Kedem
(Photo: Adi Lam, Shahar Cohen)
The law, along with the shift in approach by Israeli authorities, gains additional significance when considering the vast sums of money seized by the IDF in Gaza and the West Bank which are used by Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Therefore, the law is seen as another step in the state's fight against terror financiers.
Attorneys Barak Kedem and Arie Arbus from the Arbus Kedem Zur law firm said in a statement, "The court's decision to seize significant sums from the Palestinian Authority is an important first step toward delivering terror financing funds to terror victims and a crucial contribution to the fight against terror."
Gilad Cohen
Source: https://www.ynetnews.com/article/h1e11yyi2r
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