Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: X/Hostages and Missing Families Forum
Israeli hostage Ron Benjamin, 53, whose body was found in Gaza in an IDF and ISA operation last week; he was murdered in the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7
(JNS) — The Jerusalem District Court has approved the freezing of 10 million shekels ($2.75 million) in Palestinian Authority funds pending a lawsuit by the relatives of Ron Benjamin, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists in the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and whose body was retrieved from Gaza in May.
The suit was filed by the Benjamin family under Israel’s “Compensation for Terror Victims Law,” passed by the Knesset in March, Israel’s Ynet outlet reported on Wednesday night. The legislation requires courts to award punitive damages of at least 10 million shekels per fatality.
Benjamin, 53, from Rehovot in central Israel, was on a bike ride with friends near Kibbutz Be’eri on the morning of Oct. 7 when he decided to drive home after the sirens started sounding for incoming rockets from Gaza. Hamas murdered him at the Mefalsim intersection — his car was found a few days later, riddled with bullets — and took his body back to Gaza.
His body was recovered in the same May 16 operation during which Israeli forces retrieved the bodies of 22-year-old Shani Louk, 28-year-old Amit Bouskila and 56-year-old Itzhak Gelerenter.
To ease the collection of potential punitive awards by victims and their families, court judgments under the Compensation for Terror Victims Law may be enforced against any property held by the defendant, including any property seized or frozen by the State of Israel.
Under agreements signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s, Israel collects taxes and customs duties on behalf of the P.A.
“Every day since Oct. 7 has been a day of endless pain. Ron was my man, my best friend, the best father to our daughters and the heart of our home,” widow Ayelet Benjamin told Ynet on Wednesday. “When we were informed that his body had been recovered, it was a moment of complete heartbreak — realizing that he was not only kidnapped, but also brutally murdered, for no reason, just because he was there.
“Today, when the court decided to seize the Palestinian Authority’s funds, it was a moment of small comfort amid the great pain. We cannot bring Ron back to life, but we can fight for justice,” she said.
“It’s not just about the money — it’s the message. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to those who reward evil, to those who award prizes for human lives taken in this way. Ron was a man of peace, of life, of love. This struggle is for his memory, but also for a better future,” she added.
The P.A, under its “pay for slay” law, pays out monthly stipends to convicted terrorists and the families of slain terrorists. The so-called Martyrs’ Fund is a cornerstone of P.A. law, granting terrorists or their next of kin the right to receive payments as long as they live.
In 2018, P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas declared, “If we had only a single penny left, we would pay it to families of the martyrs and prisoners.”
On Tuesday, a court approved the seizure of 20 million shekels ($5.5 million) in P.A. funds by the relatives of brothers Hallel and Yagel Yaniv, who were murdered by an Arab terrorist in Samaria two years ago.
Hallel Menachem Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaakov Yaniv, 19, from the Samaria village of Har Bracha, were hit by terrorist gunfire during a traffic jam in the Palestinian town of Huwara on Feb. 26, 2023.
In October, attorneys for some 250 Israelis affected by Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre filed a record-breaking lawsuit against the P.A., citing its support for terrorism.
The terrorism victims and families of those killed during the Oct. 7 attacks, represented by the Jerusalem-based Arbus, Kedem, Tzur law firm, demanded 1.75 billion shekels ($478 million) in compensation.
The claim came on top of a 210 million shekel ($57 million) lawsuit filed some three months earlier with the Jerusalem District Court by dozens of Israelis whose relatives were killed in recent years, including in the ax attack in Elad on Independence Day in 2022 and the Oct. 7 slaughter.
