Israeli court punishes Palestinian Authority for terror funding, seizes $43 million

Israeli court seizes 160 million shekels in frozen Palestinian Authority funds in order to pay out damages to relatives of terror victims.

By World Israel News Staff

An Israeli court has seized frozen Palestinian Authority funds and used them to pay damages in a lawsuit filed by relatives of Israeli terror victims, Israel National News reported Wednesday.

According to the report, the Jerusalem District Court has issued an order to seize 160 million shekels ($43.1 million) from frozen tax funds collected by Israel on behalf the Palestinian Authority. This action is part of a comprehensive lawsuit filed by dozens of bereaved Israeli families against the Palestinian Authority, over Ramallah’s funding for anti-Israeli terrorism.

The claimants have demanded compensation totaling 210 million shekels in  suit filed about two months ago by the law firm Arbous-Kedem-Tzur.

The suit targets tax funds collected by Israel from Palestinian Arab workers employed inside Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, and relies on  the 2018 anti-terrorism Financing Law and a second law, passed this March enabling terror victims to receive compensation via frozen PA funds.

Israel is currently holding some two billion shekels frozen, equivalent to the money diverted by the PA to its Martyrs Fund to provide stipends to jailed terrorists held by Israel and to subsidize the families of slain terrorists.

The plaintiffs include relatives of victims killed in a number of terrorist attacks, as well as during the massacres of October 7th.

Under the 2024 terror compensation law, bereaved families of terror victims can be awareded up to 10 million shekels from frozen PA funds, while wounded terror victims may claim up to 5 million shekels.

“The court’s decision to seize substantial sums from the Palestinian Authority is an important first step toward redirecting terrorism financing to the benefit of terror victims and a significant contribution to the fight against terrorism,” the attorneys representing the plaintiffs said in a statement Wednesday.