Palestinian Authority tries to invoke the free pass defense

An Israeli court has upheld a decision from a US court ordering the Palestinian Authority to pony up for supporting acts of terrorism against American citizens reports the Jerusalem Post:

Jerusalem District Court Judge Aharon Farkash ruled on Monday that it was possible to implement a 2004 US court ruling, according to which the Palestinian Authority must pay compensations of more than $116 million to terror victims' families.

In July 2004, a US court ruled that the Palestinian Authority was to pay some $116 million to the relatives of Yaron and Efrat Unger who were killed in a 1996 terror attack. But when the family asked authorities to enforce the court ruling in Israel, the Palestinian Authority objected, saying that paying the high compensations would lead to its financial collapse.

The Jerusalem District Court rejected the appeal made by the Palestinian Authority not to enforce the American ruling because the implementation would destroy it financially. The Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority said that payment of such high sums would have public, political, financial and security implications for Israeli citizens. They claimed paying the high sum would empty the Palestinian Authority's coffers and would lead to more lawsuits against the Palestinian Authority.

What a novel defense. Imagine if we all used it.