Key facts
- Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied a request to halt a $655.5 million judgment against the PLO and Palestinian Authority.
- The judgment is for victims of attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2004 that killed and injured Americans.
- The Palestinian entities argued that enforcing the judgment would destabilize government services in the West Bank.
- The lawsuit was brought under a federal law that allows claims against Palestinian authorities for acts of terror.
- The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously reinstated the judgment.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has declined to halt a $655.5 million judgment against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The ruling allows victims of attacks in Israel that killed and injured Americans between 2002 and 2004 to pursue payment from the Palestinian entities.
The Palestinian organizations had requested that the judgment be put on hold while they appeal a lower court's decision to revive the case. They argued that enforcing the judgment would cause severe financial harm and destabilize government services in the West Bank, potentially jeopardizing regional security. They stated that essential services are "hanging by a thread" and that plaintiffs intend to seek payment from indirect Palestinian tax revenue collected by Israel.
The lawsuit was initially filed in New York federal court in 2015, alleging responsibility for the attacks. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the verdict in 2016, but Congress subsequently passed the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act in 2019, which facilitated lawsuits against Palestinian authorities. The Supreme Court upheld this law, leading the 2nd Circuit to reinstate the judgment in March.