Families of those killed in October 2000 riots accuse state of fraud

The families of those killed in the October 2000 riots are accusing the state of bad faith, deception and fraud after finding substantial differences between a compromise agreement they reached with the state and the version submitted to the court.

The families settled a damages lawsuit several weeks ago, but are now asking the court to annul the compromise.

The families say there are substantial differences between the waivers they signed and the compromise submitted to the court in their names. Some of the families, which filed their new demand last week, say they signed the waivers only because they implied the state accepts responsibility. This does not appear in the actual compromise.

The waiver signed by the victims' families states: 'The state recognizes its responsibility to compensate us as the heirs of the deceased for the incident in which they were killed.' The families say they understood from that that the state was accepting responsibility.

However, the settlement validated by the court emphasizes that the state does not accept responsibility for the incident or for the damage to the families.

'The state of Israel agrees, beyond the letter of the law, and despite its fundamental position regarding lack of responsibility for damages caused by the events, and without admitting to the plaintiffs' charges, to pay an amount agreed upon by the parties,' the settlement states.

The compromise also states that both sides express regret for the events. This angered the families, which say this sounds like making the victims apologize.

The families say the document has serious ramifications for their criminal proceeding against the state. Several months ago, the human rights group Adalah submitted a thick document to the attorney general listing serious charges regarding the police investigation. The state prosecution has said it would treat the document as an appeal against the decision to close the cases of police officers suspected of involvement in the shootings.

Adalah said Saturday that its lawyers are examining whether those who drafted the compromise documents committed criminal offenses.

'We will weigh asking the attorney general to order a police investigation into the matter,' the group stated Saturday.