Methodology and further resources

To create the database for the map, we reviewed and coded over 480 Israeli court cases available in Israel’s leading legal databases (Nevo and Takdin), as well as cases that are not publicly available online. At the first stage we conducted several Boolean searches, focusing on cases citing the ‘combatant activities exception’ as well as keywords such as ‘combat’, ‘liability’ and ‘tort’ that were mentioned in the same paragraph. A total of 454 decisions in which a loss was inflicted during combatant activities were found and coded. An additional Boolean search focusing on keywords such as ‘liability’ and ‘tort’ and the Palestinian Authority as a defendant yielded 32 decisions. Cases were coded to enable analysis of the nature of civilian harm claims over time, as well as the practice of the Israeli court and the application of Israel’s ‘combatant activities exception’.

It should be noted that the database is comprised of judgments and orders. It does not include claims which settled outside the court doors, unless a judicial decision was given to that effect. According to a report provided in response to a freedom of information act (FOIA) query to the Israeli Ministry of Defense and independent research references below, many claims submitted during the years covered by the database were in fact settled. For example, based on Ministry of Defense data for the years 2007-2009, a total of 151 claims were settled outside the court, which accounted for thirty percent of the claims filed in those years. Due to lack of publicly available data regarding out-of-court settlements, there are not included in the database.

For convenience and accessibility, the database is visualized by using OpenStreetMap. However, this use does not endorse nor advocate for a particular view of the international borders in the Israel/ Palestine region.

Related Resources:

• Access Denied – Using Procedure to Restrict Tort Litigation: the Israeli-Palestinian Experience.
• Collateral Damages: Monetary Compensation for Civilians in Asymmetric Conflict.
• Discrimination in the Fight Against Terror: Israeli Court Applies Jewish Nation-State Law.
• Israel: Supreme Court’s Double Standard on Liability is Unfair to Palestinians.
• Money for Justice: Plaintiffs’ Lawyers and Social Justice Tort Litigation.
• The Occupation of the Law: Judiciary-Legislature Power Dynamics in Palestinians’ Tort Claims against Israel.
• The War on Compensation: Troubling Signs for Civilian Casualties in the Gaza Strip.
• Tort Liability, Combatant Activities, and the Question of Over-Deterrence.
• Tort Liability for Belligerent Wrongs.
• Are Reparations for Palestinians Possible?