The families’ lawsuit, filed by attorneys of the Tel Aviv-based Herzog law firm, demands over a billion shekels (approximately $270 million) in frozen P.A. tax revenues held by the Israeli government.
The claim was submitted on behalf of Israelis “tortured and slaughtered with unimaginable cruelty by terrorists, and on behalf of survivors who were left with permanent disabilities as a result of their severe injuries, during the murderous terror attack that began on Oct. 7, 2023,” it said.
Among the plaintiffs, brought together by bereaved father Itzik Shafir—his son Dor Hanan Shafir, 30, was murdered on Oct. 7 while fleeing the Psyduck festival—are families whose loved ones were killed at the two music parties near the border, as well as in towns near Gaza.
“On that dark morning, 399 young people who had been at the Nova and Psyduck festivals were murdered, and 44 were kidnapped to Gaza,” the claim states. “The terrorists conducted systematic searches, assaulting, torturing, raping, murdering and kidnapping everyone they ran into.”
If the families win the lawsuit, the money will be distributed among the plaintiffs, amounting to 10 million shekels ($2.7 million) per murdered victim and 5 million shekels ($1.35 million) per wounded victim.
The lawsuit was one of many actions taken since Knesset lawmakers approved the “Compensation for Terror Victims Bill” in March 2024.
To ease the collection of the punitive awards, the legislation states that judgments may be enforced against “any property of the defendant, including any property seized or frozen by the State of Israel.”
The families included in the class action base their claim against the PA on the fact that it “pays and provides benefits to imprisoned terrorists, as well as to the families of terrorists who were killed or injured while carrying out an act of terrorism,” the suit said.
Attorneys Roy Schöndorf and Joseph “Yossi” Ashkenazi of Herzog Law said in a Hebrew statement cited by Israeli media: “This is one of the largest lawsuits of its kind against the Palestinian Authority, both in terms of the number of plaintiffs and the scope of the claim.”
“We seek to impose legal responsibility on the Authority for its funding, encouragement, and support of the terrorist operatives—support that is manifested in grants given to security prisoners held in Israel, to their families and to families of terrorists who are not in prison,” they said.
“This support contributed to the events of Oct. 7, in which over 1,200 Israelis were murdered and 252 people were kidnapped,” they added.
Jerusalem collects 600 million to 700 million shekels ($165 million to $192 million) in tax and tariff revenue on behalf of Ramallah every month under the terms of the Oslo Accords, signed with the PLO in 1994.
Almost 1 billion shekels ($278 million) yearly goes towards the “pay for slay” policy, under which the P.A. doles out monthly “salaries” to terrorists and their families, legal documents indicated in 2024.
Last week, P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa accused Israel of seizing 220 million shekels ($60 million), which he said “corresponds to the allowances paid by the PA to families of martyrs and detainees.”
In July 2018, the Knesset passed a law that would allow the government to withhold funds Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority in the amount that the entity pays to terrorists and their families.
P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Feb. 21 that Ramallah would not deduct a single penny from the “Martyrs’ Fund,” despite a Feb. 10 statement interpreted by some as ending the practice.
“We again emphasize that we are proud of the sacrifices made by the martyrs, prisoners and wounded [terrorists],” the PA chief declared.
“I told you once and I stand by my word: Even if we have [only] one penny left, it is for the prisoners and the martyrs,” Abbas continued, echoing previous remarks made during a 2018 address.
