Israel Matzav

China pressuring Israel to drop support for Wultz family lawsuit

I'm sure many of you also recall the murder of 16-year old American Daniel Wultz from Florida (pictured, top left) HY"D (may God avenge his blood) in a Tel Aviv suicide bombing in April 2006, while he and his father were visiting for Passover. You may recall that a 'Palestinian' terror leader referred to Wultz as "the best target we can dream of."

In May of 2012, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia awarded Wultz's parents and siblings $332 million from Iran and Syria for providing material support to the Islamic Jihad suicide bomber who carried out the attack.

Daniel’s father Yekutiel “Tuly” Wultz, who was seriously wounded in the attack; his mother, Sheryl; and his siblings Amanda and Abraham brought the civil lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, under powerful US anti-terrorism laws that permit American civilians to sue sovereign states who sponsor acts of terror.

Via their lawyers – New York attorney Robert Tolchin and Tel Aviv attorney Nitsana Darshan- Leitner – the Wultz family alleged that the Syrian and Iranian governments, both of which the US has designated as state sponsors of terrorism, provided Islamic Jihad with the material support and resources it needed to carry out the deadly attack.

The court learned that Daniel had been conscious immediately after the bombing and up until his death, and had suffered extreme physical and emotional pain both because he knew the horrific extent of his injuries and because he was aware he would die from them.

The 16-year-old suffered wounds including severe bleeding from multiple shrapnel wounds, a perforated bowel and multiple infections, including gangrene.

In their fight to save his life, surgeons at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital removed several of Daniel’s organs, and amputated two fingers and part of his right leg, but the teenager succumbed to his injuries and died on May 14, 2006.

His father, who was sitting with Daniel at the time of the bombing, endured extensive physical injuries as well as severe psychological damage. He still suffers pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, including terrifying nightmares and daily flashbacks of the attack.

The other members of the Wultz family, including Daniel’s mother, suffered serious psychological and emotional damage as a result of the bombing.

In addition to Iran and Syria, the Wultz family’s lawsuit named as defendants the Iranian Ministry of Information and Security, the Syrian Ministry of Defense, Syrian Military Intelligence and the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate.

Wultz's parents have also filed a lawsuit in New York, which claims that the Bank of China enabled Islamic Jihad to fund the attack. The key witness in the case is a former Israeli intelligence officer. The Wall Street Journal (to which I do not have access) reported on Friday that the Chinese government is pressing Prime Minister Netanyahu not to let the intelligence officer testify.

Wultz's parents are now suing the Bank of China for its alleged part in the attack, a lawsuit which hinges on the testimony of a former Israeli intelligence official, scheduled to testify in a New York federal court in July.

The Wall Street Journal quoted the plaintiffs as saying the official is expected to testify that at a 2005 meeting, Israeli officials told China that Bank of China accounts were being used to fund terror groups including the Islamic Jihad, but they refused to close the accounts.

The Wultzes, however, are saying that China is pressuring Netanyahu not to allow the former Israel intelligence official to testify, amid growing trade with China, worth billions of dollars annually to the Israeli economy.

The paper cited a congressional staffer who has coordinated between the Wultzes and the Israeli government as saying the Prime Minister's Office is now undecided about giving the former intelligence official permission to testify, despite previous commitments to do so.

US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen wrote a letter to Netanyahu this week on behalf of the Wultzes, imploring Netanyahu to allow the official to testify, according to the Journal.

"We are aware of mounting pressure by the BOC and other Chinese interests…to interfere with the US proceedings and the deposition," she wrote, adding that by allowing the official to testify, Netanyahu would " reaffirm Israel's solemn commitment to the victims of terror to ensure that justice be done."

Hmmm.

Labels: Bank of China, China, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Palestinian suicide bombers, Palestinian terrorism, Tel Aviv, terror victim suits in US

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:06 AM