The court ruled that NIS 2.5 million will be forfeited from PA funds to compensate 3 Palestinians accused and tortured for cooperating with Israel • "This is the beginning of historical justice"

• NIS 2.5 million will be forfeited from PA funds. Pictured: Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen

  Photo: 

  AFP

Israel forfeited about NIS 2.5 million from the tax money collected for the Palestinian Authority - which will be transferred to three Palestinians accused of cooperating with Israel and tortured as a result. These are three of a group of 52 Palestinians who sued the PA in the Jerusalem District Court after being arrested and tortured on charges of cooperating with Israel.   

Recall, in November 2018, the Supreme Court rejected the PA's appeal of a Jerusalem District Court ruling, which stated at the time that "there is no escaping evidence that this is evidence of evidence showing that the PA on all its affiliates acted with severe violence, including harsh torture, against the plaintiffs." . The court ruled that the plaintiffs will compensate NIS 450 per day of detention in the first stage, before ruling on the total amount of compensation for the treatment they received, the torture and damages they sustained.  

At the same time, a foreclosure order was issued on the Palestinian Authority's assets in Israel, after the PA refused to pay the severed compensation. The foreclosure order is intended to pay NIS 14 million, which includes the first phase compensation for the 52 claimants. Now, for the first time, the execution was used and the transfer of funds to the estates and the family of the plaintiffs. However, the final damages, which will also include the damages caused to the plaintiffs following the torture they have undergone, may reach hundreds of millions of shekels.   

The state statement issued by the Jerusalem Execution Bureau states, among other things, that one plaintiff will be transferred about NIS 550,000 from the PA's tax money, to the other plaintiff - NIS 978,000, while the third plaintiff, who has died in the meantime, will be transferred to NIS 912,000. The forfeited funds amount to NIS 2,439,755.39.

Attorney Arie Arbus and Barak Kedem, of the Arbus Kedem Tzur law firm, who represented the plaintiffs, said: "We congratulate the State of Israel on foreclosing the Palestinian Authority's money and delivering it through the execution in favor of our client. This is the beginning of historical justice, of the Palestinian Authority's appalling actions, and we hope that in the near future, the court will award many millions of damages for other heads of damage as well. "