A group of bereaved families together with several Zionist organizations submitted a petition on Monday to the High Court of Justice demanding that the government implement the "pay-for-slay" law.
In July 2018, the Knesset passed a historic law requiring the government to deduct the amount of money that the Palestinian Authority gives to terrorists and their families from the taxes Israel collects for the PA.
According to the law, every year the security cabinet must reissue the order to the Finance Ministry to withhold the funds. The security cabinet has yet to give the order in 2020, prompting the groups to file the petition.
The petition was submitted by the organizations Lavi, the Choosing Life Forum of Bereaved Families, Im Tirtzu and The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel.
Merav and Herzl Hajaj, the parents of Lt. Shir Hajaj who was murdered in 2017, together with Shai Maimon, who was injured in a terrorist attack in 2015 and was among the initiators of the law, also joined the petition.
According to the petition, which was filed by attorney Yitzhak Bam, the executive branch is obligated to carry out the law and deduct the funds from the Palestinian Authority, and a failure to do so is a violation of the law.
"The citizens of Israel will not stand for the disgraceful transfer of money that is going toward paying terrorists," said the Lavi organization. "The State of Israel has an obligation to prevent the Palestinian Authority from rewarding the murderers of Jews by freezing the funds intended to finance their salaries."
Merav and Herzl Hajaj said that the government must do everything in its power to prevent the next terrorist attack, including the implementation of the law.
"This is money going to those who have murdered our children and loved ones," said Merav and Herzl Hajaj. "We must put an end to this blood money."
Im Tirtzu's Legal Division called on the government to fulfil its "moral obligation" and implement the law.
"The government must fulfill its moral obligation to the people of Israel, and most of all to the bereaved families of terrorism, and implement the law. It is beyond belief that this petition even needs to be submitted in the first place."