Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor refused to halt a $655.5 million judgment against the Palestinian Authority and PLO. The damages stem from a lawsuit by American victims of early 2000s terror attacks in Jerusalem that killed 33 people. Palestinian authorities argued that enforcing the payment would destabilize West Bank government services, but Sotomayor denied the emergency pause, allowing enforcement to proceed while appeals continue.
Supreme Court judgment denial
- ▪Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied the emergency application to pause the judgment without providing an explanation or referring the matter to the full Supreme Court.
- ▪Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor refused on August 3, 2026, to halt a $655.5 million judgment against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Palestinian Authority liability
- ▪The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization argued that paying the $655.5 million judgment could destabilize government services in the West Bank and harm regional security.
- ▪The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization stated that the plaintiffs intend to seek payment from indirect Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel.
PLO terror attack damages
- ▪The underlying civil lawsuit was filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act by American victims and families of shootings and bombings in Jerusalem between 2002 and 2004.
- ▪The attacks in Jerusalem in the early 2000s killed 33 people and wounded hundreds of others.
Civil lawsuit victims compensation
- ▪A federal jury in New York originally returned a $218.5 million verdict in 2015, which was tripled under federal law to $655.5 million.
- ▪The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the $655.5 million judgment in March 2026 following a June 2025 Supreme Court ruling.
Justice Sotomayor ruling
- ▪Congress passed the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act of 2019 to establish U.S. court jurisdiction over the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
- ▪The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization argued that the 2015 judgment became a legal nullity after prior appeals were exhausted in 2018.
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