“But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”  (Exodus 21:23-25)

In accordance with traditional Jewish teaching that the verse in Exodus means repaying the value of an eye for a lost eye, the US federal court in San Diego has ruled that funds held by Cubic Defense Systems must be paid out to the victims of a 1997 terror attack in Jerusalem attributed to Hamas.

In his decision, Judge Barry Moskowitz ruled that the Iranian Defense Ministry must pay $9 million (NIS 31.6 million) in damages to nine plaintiffs, five of whom were victims of the double bombing in Jerusalem’s Ben Yehuda Street pedestrian mall, along with four family members of victims.  Five civilians were killed in the attack, and several more were injured, including US citizens.

Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the US since 1997, and as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists” since 2001.  Plaintiffs successfully demonstrated in court that Iran provided funding, training and support for Hamas terrorists, and as such, in 2003, a US court awarded them a claim of $70 million (NIS 246.4 million) against the Islamic nation.  However, since the US and Iran have no diplomatic ties, there was no way for the plaintiffs to collect.

A Tel Aviv-based legal advocacy group, Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center, stepped in that year, asking that Iranian funds held by Cubic Defense Systems be used to pay at least part of the sum.  The case has been in litigation for a decade.

Cubic Defense Systems received payment from Iran for a defense contract negotiated prior to the Iranian Revolution, but never delivered the system.  After Iran’s Ministry of Defense initiated arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce, it was agreed that Cubic would sell the system to another country and reimburse, in whole or in part, Iran.  The money, however, was never returned.  It is currently being held by the Clerk of the Court.

The nine victims, along with the daughter of Iran’s assassinated former Prime Minister, Shapour Bakhtiar, who is herself a US citizen, applied for a lien on that money as a way of collecting from Iran.  According to Tuesday’s ruling, they were immediately given title over the funds.  Moskowitz did, however, delay the actual disbursement of the money to allow Iran an opportunity to appeal.

“While the US and EU are rushing to strengthen the law-breaking Iranian regime economically,” said attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, director of Shurat HaDin, in a statement, “Shurat HaDin and the families it represents are not forgetting and are not forgiving the Iranians for financing terror that hit Israel.”