Forum Chairman Nachi Eyal
Forum Chairman Nachi EyalArutz Sheva

The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel wants the Attorney General to appeal a High Court decision allowing a master terrorist to sue Israel  over his alleged suffering in detention.

On Monday, the High Court denied the state's appeal to reject Mustafa Dirani's lawsuit against the state of Israel. Dirani is a known terrorist who was involved in capturing Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad in 1986. Lieutenant Arad has not been heard from since then and has been officially declared dead. Dirani is also known as a member of the Hizbullah group, which has been declared a terrorist organization by a number of countries, including the United States and Britain.

Following Dirani's direct involvement in the capture of Lieutenant Arad, and since the Israeli government believed he had exclusive knowledge concerning Arad's whereabouts, Dirani was taken from his home in Lebanon by Israeli commandos in 1994, and then brought to Israel, where he was held in detention for 10 years. Following his release in 2004, as part of a prisoners exchange agreement, Dirani resumed his terrorist activity against Israel and declared his loyalty to Hizbullah. 

Dirani maintained that during his detention in Israel he was sodomized and tortured by his Israeli captors, and submitted a compensation claim for the sum of 6 million NIS to the Israeli court. The State Attorney filed an appeal against Dirani's right to submit any claims to the Israeli legal system, arguing that Dirani is considered an enemy of the state, a terrorist who has returned to an enemy state and continues to take part in terrorist activities against the State of Israel.

An enemy of the state should not be allowed to file any legal action within the state, the AG contended, citing an American law to this effect. Nevertheless, the High Court decided on Monday to deny the State's appeal, allowing Dirani's legal dispute to continue in the District Court.  

"Allowing a terrorist to sue the State of Israel and to mock the State while demanding 'token' compensation of 6 million NIS is something that should not happen in any democracy," the Forum stated Thursday. "Every democratic state has the right to defend itself from its enemies. The Supreme Court's decision this week is just another example of the post Zionist influence on the Israeli judicial system, which continually demonstrates such opinions in their decisions." 

The Forum added:

"Following these last events, and the fact that the State has not reacted to the Supreme Court's decision, the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel approached the Attorney General last Tuesday, requesting that on the basis of the minority opinion at the previous hearing, the State apply for another hearing before a larger panel of judges. The Legal Forum action is intended to prevent the possibility that either terrorist Mustafa Dirani, or any other enemy of the State of Israel, will be allowed to file lawsuits against the State in an Israeli court, now or in the future."