Israeli-Americans Sue North Korea

Thirty Israeli-Americans have filed an unprecedented lawsuit in an American court charging the North Korean government with providing material support to Hezbollah during the 2006 war in Lebanon.

The suit seeks more than $100 million in damages.

The plaintiffs – seven of whom were from Safed, a town in northern Israel that came under Hezbollah rocket attacks during the war – claim they were injured by the rockets or sustained property damage. They say North Korea helped Hezbollah by training its agents and built a network of bunkers that were used to store the rockets used in the attacks from southern Lebanon.

This is the first time that victims of Hezbollah have filed suit against the government of North Korea for providing material support to a terror organization.

The suit quotes a May 2008 congressional memo that described one of the buildings that North Korea built as a 15-mile long tunnel Hezbollah used to mobilize its troops.

The memo noted that these underground buildings significantly improved Hezbollah’s ability to fight against Israel in the course of the war.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com