US Supreme Court Rejects Palestinian Authority's Bid to Freeze $656 Million Terror Compensation

The US Supreme Court has denied a request by the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to freeze a $656 million judgment awarded to American victims of terrorism. This ruling upholds a lower court decision that held the Palestinian Authority and PLO liable for supporting terrorist groups responsible for deadly attacks in Jerusalem in the early 2000s, which killed 33 Jews and injured hundreds.

The legal battle centers on a series of severe terror attacks, with American victims invoking US anti-terrorism laws that allow them to seek compensation in US courts. The Palestinian Authority argued that enforcing the compensation would severely harm civilian services in the West Bank areas under its control. However, the Supreme Court rejected this argument, maintaining the financial penalty.

The case has undergone numerous twists, including a federal appeals court in New York initially overturning the jury verdict against the Palestinian entities. Subsequently, US lawmakers amended anti-terrorism laws to permit such lawsuits, leading the Supreme Court to reinstate the cases in 2025. In March of this year, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit officially reinstated the $656 million judgment against the Palestinian Authority and PLO, which the Supreme Court has now upheld by denying the freeze request.