Judge Procaccia
Judge ProcacciaIsrael news photo: Flash 90

The High Court of Israel made a decision Monday that some critics call “a historic low point” in the Court’s history, allowing a terror master to sue Israel for 6 million shekels in damages.

The decision was reached by judges Ayala Procaccia and Salim Joubran, against the dissenting opinion of Judge Hanan Meltzer.
Dirani is a Hizbullah terrorist who held downed IAF pilot Ron Arad captive for several years. He was abducted by the IDF as a bargaining chip for Arad – who has been announced dead – and returned to Lebanon in 2004 as part of a swap. The moment he set foot back on Lebanese soil, he announced that he was re-enlisting in Hizbullah to destroy Israel.
He also filed a lawsuit against Israel, for damages he claims he suffered during his imprisonment.
Procaccia rejected the State’s argument that the British law that prevents enemy aliens from suing the state in its own courts applies to the case. Israeli law, she explained, “grants special status to the right to approach the courts and to a person’s basic right to protection of his body and dignity.”
Judge Meltzer dissented, saying that once Dirani returned to Lebanon and went back to activity in a terror organization, his aforesaid right has ceased… abd therefore his motion should be rejected outright.” He added that Dirani is “a bitter enemy of Israel and acts personally, within the Hizbullah organization, to harm the state and sow destruction within it.”
Grassroots group My Israel called the verdict “a historic low point” in the Court’s history and "hallucinatory," and demanded that elected leaders exert influence on the selection of Israel’s judges. The group pointed out Minister Gideon Saar and MK Carmel Shama of the Likud as prominent opponents of legislation designed to enable the vetting of judges by a Knesset panel.