US Court Holds Iranian Banks Liable For Murder Of US Citizen

 

Rabbi Eitam and Naama Henkin, h'yd.

In the first decision of its kind, a federal court in Washington D.C. ruled that Iran, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, three Iranian banks, and Syria are liable for a terror attack perpetrated by Hamas in 2015.

The decision marks the first time that an Iranian bank has been held liable for the death of a US citizen.

Rabbi Eitam and Naama Henkin, h’yd, were killed on Chol Hamoed Sukkos while driving to their home in the Shomron by five Hamas terrorists, who brutally gunned them down in front of their four children in the back seat. The children, ranging in age from 10 months to nine years, survived the attack.

Rabbi Henkin was a US citizen, and his relatives, in the name of the children and the estate of their parents, filed a lawsuit to a US court under the terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

The plaintiffs claimed that Hamas was funded, trained, and equipped with weapons by Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and Syria. Additionally, they placed blame on three Iranian banks, all already sanctioned by the US for financing terror, for funneling funds to Hamas.

None of the defendants responded to the lawsuits.

“Financing is the oxygen needed for terrorism,” said Gavriel Mairone, one of the plaintiffs’  lawyers said. “Bank Markazi serves as both the Central Bank of Iran and the Central Bank for financing international terrorism directed against Americans and our allies. The Treasury Department has sanctioned Melli and Saderat as facilitators and financiers of international terrorists such as Hamas and Hezbollah.”

The court has yet to determine damages.