Overview
- The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals restored the 2015 $655.5 million judgment against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the Sokolow case.
- The court said Congress’s 2019 Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act applies retroactively and treats PA stipends to convicted attackers as consent to U.S. jurisdiction.
- The panel reinstated the original verdict without a new trial, aligning with a 2025 Supreme Court decision that upheld this jurisdictional framework.
- Enforcement remains unclear, and the plaintiffs plan to register the U.S. judgment in Israeli courts to try to reach PA-linked funds, including tax revenues Israel collects for the Authority.
- The lawsuit began in 2004 under the Anti-Terrorism Act after seven Jerusalem attacks, and a Manhattan jury awarded $218.5 million that federal law automatically tripled to $655.5 million.