PA, Bezeq ordered to pay terror victim’s family

In a landmark decision, the Tel Aviv Regional Court has ordered the Palestinian Authority to pay compensation to the family of an Israeli who was murdered by a Palestinian teenager a decade ago. The man was killed while out on a job on his capacity as an employee of the Bezeq telephone company, which was also ordered to pay compensation for failing to provide him with adequate security.

In late February, Justice Dalia Ganot ruled that the PA shared responsibility for the shooting of Amos (Amit) Mantin, 31, who was gunned down by a 15-year-old Palestinian in Baqa al-Gharbiya, near the Green Line, in June 2003. Ganot ordered the PA to pay NIS 1.5 million ($401,000) to Mantin’s family. Bezeq was told to pay NIS 600,000 ($162,000) in compensation.

The incident occurred at the height of the Second Intifadia, when Palestinians were carrying out numerous terror attacks against Israelis both inside Israel and in the West Bank. On the day of the attack, Mantin was waiting in a car in the Israeli Arab village, apparently during the course of a trip to repair telephone lines in the area.

The gunman, Shadi Jawada, crossed the Green Line from the neighboring West Bank village of Baqa al-Sharqiya, approached the vehicle and fired five shots with a pistol, killing Mantin. A security guard, who was supposed to be protecting Mantin but was out of the vehicle and conducting private business, chased the assailant and apprehended him. During his interrogation, Jawada told investigators that he had received weapons training in Jericho at a camp run by the Palestinian Authority, which at the time was chaired by Yasser Arafat.

In the wake of the attack, Mantin’s mother launched a civil lawsuit against the PA, Bezeq, and the security guard.

The weapons training formed the basis of Ganot’s decision to hold the PA responsible for the killing, even if it did not dispatch Jawada to carry out the attack. Ganot noted that according to the Oslo peace accords, the PA was required to act to prevent terror attacks, and that it should have taken into consideration that the youth might make use of his training to attack Jews.

The PA legal representative said that the authority would appeal the decision as it was based on incorrect facts.