After 18 Years: PA To Pay 13 Million NIS To Terror-Stricken Family

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Jerusalem District Court ruled this week that the Palestinian Authority must pay 13 million NIS in compensation to the family of Tzippi and Gadi Shemesh who were murdered in a suicide terror attack in 2002. At the time the couple had two children and Tzippi was five months pregnant with twins.

In 2018, in a landmark decision, the court found the Palestinian Authority directly responsible for the attack and the deaths of Tzippi and Gadi, stating that the perpetrators acted on a calculated policy of the PA to employ violence against innocent Israelis. The court also noted that the PA continues to provide financial support to the families of terrorists, proving their complicity and encouragement of terror activities.

The two surviving orphans, Shachar and Shoval, who were brought up by Gadi’s sister, said in a Ynet interview that “this is a day of closure for us after a long struggle. From the first moment it was important for us that justice be done and now finally it has happened. The struggle is not just a personal one for our family, since not every family hit by terror has the strength to do this.”

They added that “we wish to say thanks to the judicial system which brought us justice. The money was not the goal. The goal was to prove that we could stand against the terrorist organizations and that we don’t give up and don’t forget, because the pain accompanies us daily.”

Attorney Roland Roth, representing the bereaved family, added that “I welcome the fact that Israeli courts understand that punitive compensation represents a real deterrent of terror.”

In the last year the state of Israel has seized 450 million NIS of tax money belonging to the Palestinian Authority which is designated to be payed to a large number of terror victim’s families, but the money cannot be released until the Israeli Supreme Court rules on the issue. Even if the families do eventually get the money, the Israeli National Insurance, which pays them a monthly stipend, has said that it will terminate the stipends if they receive punitive damages from the PA.