Israel Matzav

Livni to be found in contempt of court?

A petition filed by the families of several terror victims asks that foreign minister Tzipi Feigele Livni be found in contempt of court for refusing to tell the court whether she believes that the 'Palestinian Authority' is a sovereign that is immune from suit.

Family members of victims of Arab terrorism wish to sue the Palestinian Authority - but cannot do so until the Foreign Minister issues a decision determining whether or not the PA is immune to such suits. The families have therefore decided to take the unprecedented step of filing a court order demanding that Livni be either arrested or fined for "contempt of court."

The order that Livni must determine the PA's legal standing was issued by the Jerusalem District Court in July 2007.

The families, represented by Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of the Israel Law Center, are the following:
• that of Vadim Norzitch, one of the two victims of the Ramallah lynching in October 2000;
• the Cohen family, three of whose children lost legs in the Kfar Darom bus bombing in November 2000;
• the parents of two Tel Aviv cousins, Moti Dayan and Etgar Zaitouna, who were abducted in January 2001 from a Tulkarem restaurant and shot to death;
• and 80 others.

"The PA always claims," Darshan-Leitner says, "that it enjoys sovereign immunity from claims of this nature. Last July, the Supreme Court ruled that the PA's status shall be determined by the Foreign Minister - and the Jerusalem District Court then ordered Livni to do so. Despite this, and despite the fact that Livni was granted an extension, at her request, she has not adhered to the ruling and has not issued the necessary certificate."

The court order stipulates that Livni must issue a certificate determining the PA's legal status.

It has never happened before that a petition has been filed to hold an Israeli cabinet minister in contempt of court. I actually find that rather surprising.

And to think that Livni was one of the few ministers who was not a candidate for jail....

Livni has declined comment on the story.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:58 PM