(JTA) — A U.S. federal court has fined North Korea $300 million for financing a 1972 attack on Israel’s airport.
Twenty-six people were killed and more than 80 wounded in the attack on the Lod Airport, now called Ben Gurion Airport, carried out by the Japanese Red Army and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine with the financial support of North Korea.
The lawsuit was filed by the family of Carmelo Calderon-Molina, a U.S. citizen killed in the attack.
Judge Francisco Besosa of the U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico on July 16 reportedly fined North Korea $300 million, which the judge said is typical punitive damages for such an attack.
North Korea is unlikely to honor the judgment.
Two of the terrorists died in the attack; a third was sentenced by Israel to life in prison. He was released after 13 years as part of an exchange of 1,150 security prisoners for three Israeli soldiers captured in the First Lebanon War.
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