Thursday, September 19, 2024, 10:16 On June 1, 2024, an amendment to the Counter-terrorism Law came into effect that authorizes the awarding of punitive compensation to terror victims. According to the amendment, sums can be deducted from funds that are transferred from the Israeli government to the Palestinian Authority. These sums can then be used to award plaintiffs compensation in suits filed against the Palestinian Authority. Additionally, the amendment sets the limit of punitive compensation at a maximum of NIS ten million per suit.
After the amendment came into effect, Honenu opened a new department that will sue the Palestinian Authority for punitive compensation on behalf of terror victims and their families. Honenu Attorneys Chayim Bleicher and Menashe Yado have already filed several suits with the Jerusalem District Court, totaling approximately NIS forty million. Recently, the Court ordered the seizure of that sum from funds that the State of Israel designated for transfer to the Palestinian Authority. The seized funds will be diverted to punitive compensation for the families of terror victims.
Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado stated, “The new legislation penalizing the Palestinian Authority expresses a great improvement in the prosecution of terrorists. The new legislation also gives the courts access to the extensive financial infrastructure that the Palestinian Authority has been enabled to build for the purpose of terror. As always, Honenu is on the forefront of the war on terror, fighting for justice for terror victims.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, the head of Honenu’s Victims of Arab Terror Department, added, “The amendment to the Counter-terrorism Law facilitates the diversion of resources invested in terror, the curtailment of terror-funding, and the rectification of damages caused by acts of terror. As part of our assistance to terror victims in their fight against terrorists, we are also active on this front.”