Top Court Rules: Palestinian Authority Must Pay Terror Victims Compensation

Israel’s Supreme Court today (Monday) rejected two requests for appeal filed by the Palestinian Authority against rulings requiring it to pay compensation to victims of terror attacks.

The justices accepted the position of the Attorney General’s Office and ruled that the Palestinian Authority cannot present evidence to contradict a disability determination made by the National Insurance Institute for the purpose of compensation under the Benefits Law, or a disability determination made in another civil damages claim arising from the same incident.

The Palestinian Authority appealed decisions by the district courts regarding claims for exemplary damages filed against it on the grounds that it rewards terrorism. In one case, the claim was filed by a victim of hostile acts who was found by the medical committees of the National Insurance Institute to have a psychological disability for the purposes of the Benefits Law. In the second case, the claim was filed by family members of a victim of hostile acts who was murdered and who were recognized במסגרת a civil damages claim they filed against the attackers as indirect victims.

The district courts rejected the Palestinian Authority’s arguments seeking to challenge the decisions of the National Insurance Institute. The Supreme Court justices fully accepted the position of the Attorney General’s Office and ruled that the language of the Law for Exemplary Compensation for Victims of Terror is clear and unambiguous: once it has been determined that a victim of terror suffered a permanent disability — whether determined by the committees of the National Insurance Institute under the Benefits Law or by a court in a civil damages claim — the victim is entitled to exemplary compensation.

The Supreme Court noted that the Exemplary Compensation Law does not include any provision allowing evidence to be introduced to contradict a disability determination. It held that this is a "deliberate negative arrangement" reflecting the purposes of the law: proper compensation for victims of terror attacks, and punishment and deterrence of the Palestinian Authority.