January 15, 2013

(JTA) — A memo linking the Palestinian Authority to a 2002 suicide attack that was accidentally handed over to attorneys for the families of two American victims should be returned, a U.S. judge ruled.

Richard Leon of Washington District Court earlier this month ordered the memo returned or destroyed to the P.A. after its lawyers claimed it was “privileged and protected” information, the New York Post reported.

The memo ties the bomber to a captain in the P.A. security forces who planned the February 2002 terror attack at a pizzeria in Karnei Shomron that killed three teens, including the two Americans.

Attorneys for the victims’ families have asked the judge to stay his order during their appeal. The attorneys, David Schoen and Robert Tolchin, said that if the document is returned or destroyed, “this critically important evidence of murder will likely be lost forever.” 

The memo has not been made public and its contents are sealed, according to the Post.

The P.A. said it handed over the memo in the same envelope as a Sept. 12 deposition and that it “retains the protection of the privilege despite the inadvertent disclosure.”

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