Israel
6th Annual Herzlia Lecture: Nitsana Darshan-Leitner explains how her organization, the Israel Law Centre, was at the centre of a momentous case argued in front of the US Supreme Court
By BERNIE BELLAN In 2022 the Jerusalem Post listed the 50 most influential Jews in the world. Number 42 on that list was Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, head of an organization known in Hebrew as Shurat Hadin or in English as the Israel Law Centre. (Interestingly, number 33 on the list was writer Dara Horn. Both Horn and Darshan-Leitner share one other attribute in common: They’ve now both been speakers at the Adas Yeshurun-Herzlia’s annual guest lecture.)
On the afternoon of Sunday, May 7, Darshan-Leitner addressed an audience gathered at the Adas Yeshurun-Herzlia. She spoke via Zoom from her home in Israel. The title of her talk was “My journey to the US Supreme Court.”
I had the pleasure of meeting Nitsana Darshan-Leitner in 2013 when I was part of a mission sponsored by Shurat Hadin. Later that same year I interviewed her over the phone. Both my article about that initial meeting in Israel and my later interview can be found on our website. Simply click on the “Search Archives” link at the top of the home page and enter Nitsana Darshan.
Back in 2013, however, Shurat Hadin was mostly involved in filing lawsuits against governments, e.g., Iran and the Palestinian Authority, or against banks, e.g., the Bank of China. The purpose of filing those lawsuits, as Darshan-Leitner also explained on May 7, was to go after the sources of funding for terrorist groups.
While some may wonder about the effectiveness of such a strategy, the proof is in the pudding. As Darshan-Leitner noted during her hour-long talk, Shurat Hadin has won over $2 billion in judgments against various actors since lawyers working pro bono in 2000 filed their very first lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority that year. And, in case you think that those judgments are merely symbolic – given how difficult it often is to collect on a judgment, Darshan-Leitner added that, to date, Shurat Hadin has been able to collect $400 million altogether. In turn, the funds collected have been handed over to the families of victims of terrorism.
How did Shurat Hadin get its start?
It goes back to a grisly episode that occurred in 2000 when two Israeli soldiers made a wrong turn in their jeep and ended up in Ramallah, she told the Herzlia audience. They were dragged from their vehicle and ended up in a PA police station where they were beaten to death by Palestinian policemen. Then their bodies were handed over to the mob waiting outside the police station whereupon they were tied to a vehicle and dragged through the town.
Normally, Darshan-Leitner explained, the policemen involved in the murders of the two Israeli soldiers would have been pursued through legal means, but in this case it was decided to go after the Palestinian Authority itself. Eventually Shurat Hadin won a judgment of $64 million against the PA.
Other acts of terrorism where it was possible to prove who was responsible have also been followed up with lawsuits and judgments. But, as Darshan-Leitner admitted, in cases where the Palestinian Authority has been held liable for acts of terrorism against Israeli citizens, Shurat Hadin has asked the Israeli government to withhold funds that are supposed to be transferred to the PA as part of an agreement reached during the Oslo Accords under which Israel would collect tax revenues from Palestinians and hand those revenues over to the PA. Whenever an Israeli government has threatened to withhold revenues, however, pressure is exerted not to do that in the interest of keeping the PA from collapsing.
It’s been a different story when it comes to non-Israeli victims of terrorism. Under laws passed in the US (and in other jurisdictions, including Canada) over the years, governments and financial institutions that have been found to have provided the financing for terrorist groups that were responsible for the killing of Americans (and other nationals) can be sued in the countries from where those nationals came if they have laws similar to the one in the US.
In various lawsuits filed against the PA in courts when individuals have been killed as a result of terrorist activities which Shurat Hadin has been able to prove were financed by the PA, a total of $655 million in judgments have been won by Shurat Hadin against the PA.
But, here’s the catch: The US State Department has consistently intervened whenever the PA has been found liable in US courts, arguing that “the PA is a vital part of US policy in the Middle East,” Darshan-Leitner said.
Further, the PA has claimed that it has no legal presence in the US and that in order to be held liable for damages, Shurat Hadin would have to show that the PA has “personal jurisdiction” in the US. A US Court of Appeal agreed with that argument and all the prior judgments against the PA were subsequently vacated. Upon appeal to the Supreme Court, Shurat Hadin’s argument was rejected again.
The US Congress, however, saw things differently, and passed legislation requiring any country or entity receiving aid from the US government to “have to accept personal jurisdiction in cases of terror,” Darshan-Leitner said.
While Shurat Hadin has been successful in winning judgments in various courts over the years, in 2015 it adopted a new strategy, which was to go after some of the biggest providers of social media, including Google (which owns Youtube) and Facebook, arguing they abet terrorism, not only by allowing content on their sites that publicizes terrorist acts, they also often promote terrorism byproviding that content.
Although there is nothing new in the argument that social media have played a huge role, both in promoting acts of terrorism – and antisemitism in general, Darshan-Leitner explained that Shurat Hadin employed a new tactic in its recent submission to the US Supreme Court.
Until now, she observed, social media have been protected from any claims against them by referring to Section 230 of something called the Community Decency Act, which was passed by Congress in 1995.
That section protects social media by drawing a distinction between producers of content on the internet and publishers of that content. For instance, in its lawsuit against Facebook (for $1 billion), lawyers representing Shurat Hadin argued that teenagers have been prompted to emulate Facebook posts that explained techniques that could be used in murdering, such as how “to twist a knife.”
“Any time there’s an attack, “Facebook posts glorifying that attack received “tens of thousands of likes,” Darshan-Leitner observed.
In its defense, she said, Facebook has argued that “they’re only a bulletin board…they’re not publishers.”
Facebook also says that “it does block pages and monitor content,” Darshan-Leitner said, but Shurat Hadin mounted an experiment to show that Facebook is inconsistent in how it monitors posts.
Two different pages were created by Shurat Hadin, she continued. “One was against Palestinians, one against Israelis. Facebook took down the page against Palestinians,” but not the one against Israelis.”
Shurat Hadin also filed suit against Google for allowing ISIS to post videos on Youtube showing how to behead people.
When lawyers for Shurat Hadin appeared before the US Supreme Court in February to present their brief, some judges on the court agreed that if Google is “recommending content, then they are responsible for that content,” Darshan-Leitner noted.
Still, she admitted that the chances are slim that the US Supreme Court will rule in favour of Shurat Hadin – in no small part because doing so would have huge implications for so many other companies in addition to Facebook and Google.
Nonetheless, she said, “We very much hope that the Supreme Court will find social media companies responsible for this terrorism.”
Later, David Matas asked Darshan-Leitner this question: “Why did you go after Facebook in the US when you could have gone after them in another country?”
The answer, according to Darshan-Leitner, is that “in Israel the courts follow US law.”
Further, she added, “Europe is out of the question. We don’t like European courts for various reasons.” On top of that, she continued, “European lawyers don’t work on contingencies. Also, you have to file a fee in advance of a court proceeding that is based on a percentage” of the amount of the lawsuit you are filing.”
Thus, it would have been hugely expensive to file a $1 billion lawsuit against Facebook in a European court.
Regardless what the Supreme Court’s decision was going to be, Darshan-Leitner said, “there are 25 proposals before Congress to amend Section 230” of the Community Decency Act.
“We have to insure that almost 80 years after the Holocaust there is a price to be paid for taking Jewish blood,” Darshan-Leitner said at the conclusion of her talk.
(Note: The Supreme Court decision on Shurat Hadin’s lawsuit against Facebook came down on May 18. Shurat Hadin lost. For more on the US Supreme Court’s decision in the Shurat Hadin case which was handed down on May 18.
Here is a report on the Supreme Court’s decision:
US Supreme Court rules for Big Tech in terror cases
“The victims accuse the social media giants of knowingly providing services to groups like ISIS and Hezbollah.”
(May 21, 2023 / JNS) The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week against the families of terrorism victims in s cases in which the plaintiffs accused Google, Twitter and Facebook of “aiding and abetting” attacks by failing to block content promoting terrorism.
Thecase, Gonzalez v. Google, was sent back to a lower court. The plaintiffs asserted that the companies were liable for the death of American college student Nohemi Gonzalez, who was killed in a café during coordinated ISIS attacks in Paris in 2015.
The May 18 decisions handed a victory to the tech industry by declining to weigh in on the foundational U.S. internet law known as Section 230.
The law, a provision in the 1996 Communications Decency Act, protects online companies from liability for content posted by their users. It also gives internet companies the ability to remove content without liability.
Of the two cases, Gonzalez v. Google gave the Supreme Court the more direct opportunity to tackle Section 230. However, the court said the suit should be dismissed because the plaintiffs didn’t have a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act. It advised the lower court that there was no need to address Section 230.
Shurat HaDin-Israeli Law Center President Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, one of the attorneys for the Gonzalez family, said, “While we are disappointed that the Supreme Court refused to acknowledge the dangers of Section 230’s blanket immunity for the social media platforms and their facilitation of these vital internet services to designated terrorist organizations, we intend to continue to litigate the case when it is remanded.
“It is clearly understood that platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook will never voluntarily act to self-regulate in any meaningful way that safeguards the lives of innocent people or protects the national security of the U.S. or other democratic states. The terror victims accuse the social media giants of knowingly providing their services to extremist groups like ISIS and Hezbollah and will continue to sue them for the devastation they caused to their families,” she added.
Policymakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties called for an overhaul of Section 230 in the wake of the court’s actions, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Not a get-out-of-jail-free card
“The Justices passed on their chance to clarify that Section 230 is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for online platforms when they cause harm,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to the newspaper.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said the court’s decision in Gonzalez v. Google case showed “why we must update the law intended to hold these companies accountable.”
Said Darshan-Leitner, “The battle will now pass to the Congress as well, which can no longer hide on the sidelines. There is bipartisan support to rein in Section 230, and the Gonzalezes and other families of victims intend to press the Congress to amend this antiquated statute that aided in the murder of Noehmi Gonzalez.
“We lawyers see this decision as just another hurdle we need to navigate. It took decades to topple Big Tobacco; we’ll eventually rein in reckless and greed-driven Big Tech as well,” she said.
Republicans and Democrats have concluded that Section 230 gives too much leeway to online companies, though for different reasons. Democrats argue that the provision lets internet platforms avoid responsibility for hate speech and negative content. Republicans say it gives cover for Big Tech to censor conservative voices.
Tech companies argue that revamping Section 230 would lead to a flood of litigation and greater censorship as they block questionable content to avoid the increased liability.
Israel
It’s Not Over Until It’s Over
By ORLY DREMAN (Jerusalem, Nov. 16, 2025) When the live hostages were returned a stone was lifted from our hearts. It was like going from Memorial Day to Independence Day. It is a relief after two years of sadness and worry about the hostages being tortured. With the ceasefire it feels good not to think every ambulance alarm is a siren and that we must run to the shelter. I would like to take things out of the shelter- like mattresses, chairs, water, first aid kit, a generator, flash light, batteries, games and canned food and put back the stuff that was there before when it was just a storage room, but it is not over. I do not see tranquility in the horizon. The children used to ask the grownups to take money to the shelter in case the house is destroyed and they will have nothing left. They also ask if they will have to be soldiers when they grow up and if they might die. We want a better future for our children. My two nieces, one from Tel Aviv and one from the center, plus several good friends whose houses were hit, can now return home.
In days of turmoil it is important to build hope and strength. The whole country was one big family due to our Jewishness, comradeship, the connection of each one of us to each family in Israel. We missed the days of quiet and freedom. Now you see more people shopping at the malls and going out to restaurants without feeling guilty; we would like to be bored.
We are living with uncertainty. It is not a question if Iran attacks, but when. Our people have gone through so much and lost so much. Living in existential stress, we are now going back to routine tension; however, now we already have chronic sleep disturbances. The reservists got out of the war, but the war will never leave them – what they saw and experienced – the trauma and the thoughts that never leave. Therefore, many soldiers, as well as survivors of Oct 7th, have committed suicide. The reservists are also those who paid the highest prices, not just on the battle fields, but also when they returned to civilian life. Because they served in the army during such a long war, they were fired from their jobs or lost their businesses and they are in debt.
Early in the morning we wake up to hear the news. There is no good news – only the names of those who were killed (even during the cease fire). We check if any dead hostages were returned. These are the values we were raised on; we do not leave anyone behind. Hamas is returning them slowly, one every few days. The relatives of the fallen who are still in Gaza are going through a storm of emotions. We cannot heal until everybody is back home. Then come the funerals – which are heart breaking, but it is a closure for those bereaved families. Hearing about Jews being attacked somewhere in the world is already considered normal. I recommend reading a book by Eli Sharabi called “Hostage.” After being tortured in captivity he returned to find out that his wife, his two daughters, and his brother were murdered. He tells about the starvation, the darkness, the loneliness, the physical and mental pain. He is a very brave, strong, optimistic man who chose life.
In the last few weeks there have been many reports about Iran, which is rushing to develop missiles for which they are getting the components from China and North Korea. Hamas and Hezbollah we cannot believe; they are already rearming. For every terrorist that is killed hundreds of new ones arise. We believed them in the past and then came Oct. 7th.
The ceasefire is not significant to Hamas. Only this week they returned an Israeli hostage who was taken into captivity eleven years ago during a ceasefire. If they do not return all the bodies then we feel in our hearts that it is not over. They suck hatred from birth. They are incited at the mosques and at school. Killing Jews is the most grand thing for them. They say out loud that there will never be reconciliation. Peace talk for them is a weakness because if you have talk then you cannot attack and they want to attack. Whatever we offer them – they want more and more. They know how important the holiness of life is to us, so they use it to demand more all the time. Maybe Hamas did not defeat us militarily, but they did beat us politically. The situation of Israel in the world is the worst it has ever been. We are isolated economically and socially. We feel like a child who is excommunicated by bullies.
Once again we still have hope that the words of the prophet Isaiah will happen: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore”.
Israel
Israeli Parliament Advances Death Penalty Bill for Convicted Terrorists
The Israeli parliament has advanced a bill that would mandate the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists convicted of killing Israeli citizens, with some lawmakers believing it would prevent future prisoner-release deals.
In a vote held late on Monday – the first of four needed for the measure to become law – the bill passed with 39 in favor and 16 against, out of 120 lawmakers.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben–Gvir had called on all political factions to back the bill, which he has said was aimed at creating deterrence against “Arab terrorism.”
“This is how we fight terror; this is how we create deterrence,” he said in a statement after the initial vote. “Once the law is finally passed — terrorists will be released only to hell.”
SOME PARTIES BOYCOTTED MONDAY’S VOTE
The bill will now move to a parliamentary committee for further debate before a second and third vote. It is not guaranteed that it will become law, with several key political parties having boycotted Monday’s initial vote.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid was quoted by Israeli media as saying that he would not vote in favor of the bill.
The PLO, the Palestinian national umbrella political group, condemned the vote, with Palestinian National Council Speaker Rawhi Fattouh calling the draft law “a political, legal, and humanitarian crime”. The vote was also criticized by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
Israel abolished the death penalty for murder in 1954, and the only person ever executed in Israel after a civilian trial was Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Nazi Holocaust, in 1962.
Ben–Gvir has argued that imposing the death penalty would deter anyone considering an attack similar to the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and resulted in 251 hostages being taken to Gaza.
Israel stopped its ensuing military campaign against Hamas last month, when a tenuous ceasefire was agreed that included the release of 20 remaining living hostages held in Gaza, plus the remains of deceased ones in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
PRISONER RELEASE DEALS
Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees since October 2023 in exchange for the release of the hostages that were being held by Palestinian terrorists.
Most of the hostages have been released except for the remains of three deceased Israelis and one foreigner.
Tzvika Foghel, a member of Ben–Gvir‘s Jewish Power party and chair of the parliamentary national security committee, where the bill will now be debated, said imposing the death penalty would mean no more prisoner deals.
Palestinians who have been released have included many convicted of serious crimes, including murder.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the October 2023 attack on Israel, was released in 2011 as part of an exchange of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for one Israeli soldier held in Gaza. Some Israeli politicians such as Ben–Gvir have, during the war in Gaza, opposed the release of Palestinians who were involved in the killings of Israelis.
Ben–Gvir handed out sweets to fellow lawmakers after the initial vote passed. Critics noted that, in Gaza, some Palestinian militants had handed out sweets to the public after the October 2023 attack.
Israel
Israel report by former Winnipegger Bruce Brown
10 minutes
(Posted Dec. 24, 2024)
02:11 AM: Sound asleep.
2.11.01 AM: Wide awake. Awoken by a blaring missile alarm. Incoming. Took me no time to react. Ivan Pavlov would be proud. I quickly scooped up my dog. Grabbed my glasses. An inhaler. My phone and power cord. And sprinted to the safe room. Right across the hall. My wife overseas on vacation. So did this one alone. Er with my dog. We have 90 seconds to reach safety so no real panic, relatively speaking.
2.11.09 AM: In my safe room. Slid shut the heavy steel slabs across the window. You can hear this happening throughout the building. Kinda like a horror movie. Screech. Slam. Screech. Slam. Screech. Slam. Then mine. Screech. Slam. Next I jumped across the room and slammed shut the heavy, reinforced, steel door. It also makes a slamming sound, a really loud one. Then slumped down on the couch with my dog. With some level of relief. Where is this missile coming from. Can’t be from Gaza, they don’t have the capability anymore…I hope. Nor Lebanon, living too far south…I hope. Yemen? Possible. Those dang Houthis?
2. 14 AM: Oh oh. Need to pee. Like really bad. Once in the safe room, you should stay there for ten minutes. Unless there is another siren. Each siren requires a ten minute respite. Respite? Odd choice of words as you are not really resting. Way too tense. Especially as you can occasionally hear the booms of intercepted missiles up above. Kind of unnerving. Back to my need to pee. Its quite dangerous leaving the room during this period. Should your place be hit by the missile or falling debris from the sky. You don’t want to be caught with your pants down, literally, hovering over your toilet. And condos have been hit in Rehovot with some death and much destruction. Hmmm. To pee or not to pee. That is the question. Whether tis better to suffer the pangs of having to pee or the missiles of outrageous fortune. You get the point.
2.14.10 AM: Peeing in the bathroom.
2.14.40 AM: Back in the safe room. With my dog. Sitting on the couch. Fiddling with the remote control. I work in hi tech. The semiconductor world which can be pretty complex. But I simply have not mastered the remote. Really want to see what’s going on. Where is the missile from. Are there more attacks elsewhere in the country. Pushing this button and that button But the TV still off. Okay. Will check my cell. Although the connection sometimes comes and goes when shuttered in the heavily reinforced concrete and steel safe room. Works! Ya! Showing three bars. Sometimes four. Checking my feeds. But no news yet.
2.17 AM: Seriously. I need to pee again. Like really bad. Dang prostate! To pee or not to pee. That is the question…. You get the point. I chose to pee. This time I don’t actually slam shut the heavy, reinforced, steel door. And my dog follows me out. This could get complicated. But first things first.
2.17.10 AM: Peeing in the bathroom.
2.17.40 AM: Chasing after my dog around the condo. Poncho!!! There he is. In the living room. Like master. Like pet. He too is relieving himself. Probably the tension. Dogs can sense these things. “Faster Poncho!. Faster!” I encourage him.
2,18.02 AM: We’re back in the safe room. The heavy, reinforced, steel door slammed shut. And then I start worrying. What if I have to pee again. Its really dangerous out there. Idea! I’ll bring a cleaning pail in here. And if worse comes to worse. Well, I am alone. Sans my dog.
2.18.22 AM: I dart for the cleaning cabinet in the bathroom to grab the pail. Making sure the heavy, reinforced, steel door is shut less my dog run out again. Wait! As it dawns on me at 02.18.22 AM. This is not the smartest thing to do. At least I could have combined grabbing the pail with actually having to pee again. Like maybe I could hold out for the next three minutes or so in the safe room. No urgent need for the pail. But I am already there….
2.18.25 AM: Grab the red cleaning pail
2.18.28 AM: Back in the safe room. The heavy, reinforced, steel door slammed shut again. Siting on the couch with my dog again. Red pail glaring at me from the side of the room…daring me. But my bladder is relaxed. I try the remote again. I feel like my 85 year old mother who often complains about getting her remote to work. I console myself thinking that it must be the batteries. Hmmm. Maybe a mad rush for the utility room to get some new batteries. But that would be mad. I’ll take care of it in the morning. Only a few more minutes and I can safely leave the safe room and go back to bed.
2.19.45 AM: I pour myself a glass of mineral water. This I store in the safe room per Homefront commands. Fresh batteries not, hrmph. As I down the water I realize this is probably not the best idea. Less it creates the urge to pee…. Alas no. Start surfing my feed again. The intercontinental missile was fired by those crazy, dang Houthis from Yemen. All of central Israel sent to their safe rooms. Dang Houthis! The next couple minutes go by pretty smoothly. Although seems like an eternity.
2.21 AM: Back in bed. Albeit sleep comes slowly as my adrenaline starts to reside.
As it were. Israel bombed the dang Houthis that night. For the third time since the outbreak of the war. In retaliation for them firing over 200 ballistic missiles and 170 drones at Israel, which fortunately had not resulted in much damage. We struck them with over 60 bombs in two air raid sorties. Destroying mainly military targets as well as ports and energy infrastructure. Maybe that will teach them for waking me -and a million other Israelis- in the middle of the night.
As it were. Falling debris from the dang Houthi attack landed on a school in central Israel, forcing its collapse. Fortunately and thank G-d it was the middle of the night. Sometime between 2:11 AM and 2.21 AM. So no casualties. Can’t even imagine the tragedy had this strike occurred mid-day.
As it were. I changed the batteries in the remote. It works just fine now. And I left the red cleaning pail in the safe room….just in case. But I hope the dang Houthis finally learned their lesson. Although probably not.
As it were. Two nights later. Another 2:00AM missile from the dang Houthis. . They just wont let me sleep….
As it is. Please continue donating to the Israeli war and revival efforts. You may have given earlier. But give again. The financial costs to Israel are and will be billions. Billions! Sderot and Metulla and Tel Avi and Haifa are Israel’s front lines. Israel is the diaspora’s front line.
Bruce Brown. A Canadian. And an Israeli. Bruce made Aliyah…a long time ago. He works in Israel’s hi-tech sector by day and, in spurts, is a somewhat inspired writer by night. Bruce is the winner of the 2019 American Jewish Press Association Simon Rockower Award for excellence in writing. And wrote the 1998 satire, An Israeli is…. Bruce’s reflects on life in Israel – political, social, economic and personal. With lots of biting, contrarian, sardonic and irreverent insight