US likely to intervene in Palestinian terror case

WASHINGTON — The US government is moving closer to intervening in a high-stakes civil case over deadly Palestinian terror attacks as officials met Tuesday with victims’ families to discuss concerns over a jury verdict worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The meeting with representatives from the Justice and State departments comes amid objections from a lawyer for the plaintiffs, who says the United States was “considering putting a thumb on the scale” because the Palestinian government opposes the jury verdict.

“The Palestinians got a fair trial. The judgment was foreseeable, and they can afford to pay it over time,” attorney Kent Yalowitz says in an interview.

At issue is $218.5 million in damages awarded by a New York jury in February for attacks that killed 33 people and wounded hundreds more — a penalty that lawyers say would be automatically tripled under the US Anti-Terrorism Act, but that the State Department fears could weaken the stability of the Palestinian government.

The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, which were held liable for the bloodshed following dramatic testimony from survivors and victims’ relatives, have indicated that they are unable to pay the damages and won’t provide money while their appeal is pending.

State Department officials are concerned that monthly bond payments sought by the victims would put the cash-squeezed Palestinian Authority on shaky financial ground and weaken the group’s ability to govern. The Justice Department, at the urging of the State Department, is likely to file a statement of interest in the case soon that asserts the importance of victims’ rights but that also urges a judge to keep in mind potential economic and national security ramifications associated with the verdict, according to an official who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

— AP