Declaring for the first time in a US court that the Palestinian Authority fails to meet the criteria for statehood that would grant it sovereign immunity, a Rhode Island federal judge has refused to dismiss a $250 million lawsuit filed by the family of an American terror victim against the PA.
In the landmark decision, Judge Ronald Lagueux ruled this week that the family of Yaron Ungar can proceed with a suit for damages filed last year against the PA for sponsoring a 1996 terrorist attack carried out by Hamas. Ungar and his wife Efrat, an Israeli citizen, were killed in a drive-by shooting west of Beit Shemesh on June 9, 1996. Their two young sons, who are being raised by Efrat's parents in Gush Etzion, and seven other relatives are named as plaintiffs in the suit. The Ungars' suit against the PA, PLO and Hamas alleges that the PA "praised, advocated, encouraged, solicited, and incited" terrorist attacks, resulting in the deaths of Efrat and Yaron Ungar.
Israeli Attorney Mordechai Haller is following the case. He told Arutz-7 today that the defendants attempted to have the suit rejected on the grounds that the PA/PLO constitute a sovereign state, and that the Ungars' deaths were part of a non-justiciable civil war between the Jews and the Arabs. The court threw out these arguments, as it did a year ago regarding other claims by the defendants. "What this means is that the PLO has run out of things to use to fend off these suits," Haller said. "The significance is not just for this one case, which is just the first of several suits that were filed under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act of 1991. This ruling interprets the status of the PA and the PLO for all the cases. It will also pave the way for other terrorism suits that are currently pending against the PA and the PLO to go forward quickly."
Haller said that the next stage of the case is "discovery," where documents are presented, witnesses are interviewed, and depositions are taken. He predicted that the PA officials are not likely to show up for this stage, even if and when the judge gives them several chances to do so, and that the Ungars would thus win the case by default. "The other option is that at some point the PA will come and make them a compromise offer," Haller said.
In the landmark decision, Judge Ronald Lagueux ruled this week that the family of Yaron Ungar can proceed with a suit for damages filed last year against the PA for sponsoring a 1996 terrorist attack carried out by Hamas. Ungar and his wife Efrat, an Israeli citizen, were killed in a drive-by shooting west of Beit Shemesh on June 9, 1996. Their two young sons, who are being raised by Efrat's parents in Gush Etzion, and seven other relatives are named as plaintiffs in the suit. The Ungars' suit against the PA, PLO and Hamas alleges that the PA "praised, advocated, encouraged, solicited, and incited" terrorist attacks, resulting in the deaths of Efrat and Yaron Ungar.
Israeli Attorney Mordechai Haller is following the case. He told Arutz-7 today that the defendants attempted to have the suit rejected on the grounds that the PA/PLO constitute a sovereign state, and that the Ungars' deaths were part of a non-justiciable civil war between the Jews and the Arabs. The court threw out these arguments, as it did a year ago regarding other claims by the defendants. "What this means is that the PLO has run out of things to use to fend off these suits," Haller said. "The significance is not just for this one case, which is just the first of several suits that were filed under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act of 1991. This ruling interprets the status of the PA and the PLO for all the cases. It will also pave the way for other terrorism suits that are currently pending against the PA and the PLO to go forward quickly."
Haller said that the next stage of the case is "discovery," where documents are presented, witnesses are interviewed, and depositions are taken. He predicted that the PA officials are not likely to show up for this stage, even if and when the judge gives them several chances to do so, and that the Ungars would thus win the case by default. "The other option is that at some point the PA will come and make them a compromise offer," Haller said.