US Supreme Court to weigh Jordanian bank's liability for attacks in Israel

Plaintiffs have accused Arab Bank under a US law called the Alien Tort Statute of deliberately financing terrorism, including suicide bombings and other attacks.

By REUTERS
US Supreme Court (photo credit: REUTERS)
US Supreme Court
(photo credit: REUTERS)
WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider reviving litigation seeking to hold Arab Bank Plc financially liable for militant attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories that accused the Jordan-based bank of being the "paymaster" to militant groups.
The justices agreed to hear an appeal by roughly 6,000 plaintiffs, who included relatives of non-US citizens killed in such attacks and survivors of the incidents, of a lower court ruling throwing out the litigation.
The plaintiffs accused Arab Bank under a US law called the Alien Tort Statute of deliberately financing terrorism, including suicide bombings and other attacks.
They are hoping to overturn a 2015 New York federal appeals court ruling that the bank could not be sued under the statute because it is a corporation.