While the Anti-Defamation League’s recent lawsuit against Hamas and its supporters seeks compensation for some 125 American victims of the October 7 attack on Israel, they face an unlikely opponent: the Justice Department.

And that’s even after they’re awarded the criminal penalties and seized assets they are seeking.

It’s a long-shot effort considering that the DOJ has only directed a fraction of the capital obtained from the state sponsors of terrorism to the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, which was devised by Congress in 2015 for the explicit purpose of providing relief to terror victims.

In a break from Congress’s intention, the funds collected from court rulings in cases of terrorism have been used by the Department of Justice for other governmental efforts.

In fact, the Fund has only provided one distribution in the past three years, less than one half a percent of the court awarded judgment.  

Should the courts rule in the plaintiff’s favor, they will join the 18,000 other Americans who have qualified for annual compensation under the dried-up fund since its inception. 

The federal lawsuit, filed by the ADL and Crowell & Moring on Monday, alleges that Iran, Syria and North Korea provided “material support and resources” to Hamas which enabled its deadly October 7 attack on Israel. 

ADL’s case against Iran, Syria, and North Korea names more than 125 plaintiffs who were affected by the attack, including American citizens who were killed or injured. 

The plaintiffs seek financial compensation under the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund — a fund devised by Congress in 2015 to provide relief via criminal penalties and seized assets for American victims of terrorism. 

The ADL’s lawsuit calls for compensatory damages against the defendants of no less than $1 billion and punitive damages no less than $3 billion. 

“There is more than ample precedent for this case: U.S. courts have repeatedly held Iran, Syria and North Korea responsible for material support of terrorist attacks that harmed U.S. and dual U.S.-Israeli citizens,” says ADL’s lead counsel on the case, James Pasch. 

However, even if the courts rule in their favor, the plaintiffs may not get their hands on the compensatory damages they rightfully deserve given that the Department of Justice has only directed a fraction of the capital obtained from the state sponsors of terrorism to the dedicated pool.

The Fund is reportedly unlikely to make a round of payments this year due to insufficient reserves.  

The deficiency caught the eyes of Representatives Mike Lawler and Josh Gottheimer, who introduced bipartisan legislation in May that would help ensure that the fines and penalties the Department of Justice collects from terror-related cases are actually fed into the Fund. 

The bill also calls for the capital recently seized from cryptocurrency fund Binance for its illegal business dealings with Iran and Syria to be directed to the fund. 

The company and its former chief executive, Chengpeng Zhao, were charged in February with violating anti-money laundering laws and levied more than $4 billion in fines. 

The legislation — which calls for annual distributions to victims starting this year — still needs to be voted on by the House and the Senate. ADL and law firm Crowell & Moring have been working with the representatives to support the bill’s passing. 

“The legislation isn’t about making new law. It’s about closing the loopholes that are being opened that shouldn’t exist in the first place. It’s about getting money to the victims of terror that Congress promised to them,” Crowell attorney Aryeh Portnoy tells the Sun. 

While financial compensation is just one component of the suit, “it can be really significant and meaningful,” Mr. Portnoy says, “and we’ve seen it over the years with all of the people we have represented.” 

In addition to helping the plaintiffs in ADL’s case, the bill is slated to benefit the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the TWA Flight 847 plane crash, and victims of other tragic terrorist acts.   

“For years, we have felt as though the tragedies we suffered were forgotten or overlooked — we felt that the justice Congress promised us was falling out of reach,” said Angela Mistrulli, whose father died in the September 11 attacks and Air Force veteran Clayton Zook who was injured in the Khobar Towers attack.

“Some of us have waited decades, and too many have been lost waiting for justice to be served. We urge all members to act now by joining this critical step to make sure Congress’s promise is fulfilled,” they added.