Appeals Court Reinstates $656M Judgment Against PLO, PA

A federal appeals court has reinstated a $656 million judgment against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, providing long-sought recourse for American victims of terrorist attacks in Israel and the West Bank. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York issued the ruling on March 30, following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last June that cleared the way for such lawsuits.

The judgment stems from a 2014 jury verdict holding the organizations liable for attacks in the early 2000s that killed 33 Americans and injured hundreds more, as well as the 2018 stabbing death of a U.S.-born settler near a mall in the West Bank. Families of the victims filed suit under the 1992 Anti-Terrorism Act, which allows U.S. courts to hear cases involving international terrorist acts. Plaintiffs alleged that agents of the organizations either participated in the attacks or incited them.

A decade ago, the same appeals court overturned the jury's decision, ruling that U.S. courts lacked jurisdiction over foreign entities for attacks abroad that did not target the United States. That stance changed after Congress passed a 2019 law specifically permitting lawsuits...