Watch: Bat Yam mayor surprises Iranian rep. with massive lawsuit

The Bat Yam Municipality has filed a lawsuit against the Islamic Republic of Iran, demanding more than NIS 208 million in compensation for the extensive destruction caused by an Iranian ballistic missile strike during Operation Rising Lion in June 2025. The lawsuit, filed Sunday in the Tel Aviv District Court by the Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center, seeks NIS 208,330,129 in damages incurred by the municipality following the deadly attack.

Bat Yam Mayor Zvika Brot and Shurat HaDin President attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner personally delivered the legal documents to a representative of Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York. According to the statement of claim, Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles toward central Israel at approximately 2:40 a.m. on June 15, 2025. One of the missiles struck a residential building on Jerusalem Street in Bat Yam, in the heart of a civilian neighborhood with no military installations nearby.

Nine civilians, including children, were killed in the attack, and hundreds of others were injured. The missile strike caused widespread destruction across approximately 150,000 square meters, making it one of the most devastating missile impacts in Israel's history, according to the lawsuit. Hundreds of families were forced to evacuate their homes, residential buildings were destroyed, and municipal infrastructure sustained extensive damage.

In the aftermath of the attack, the Bat Yam Municipality launched a large-scale emergency response to assist residents and restore essential services. The municipality covered the costs of evacuating residents, providing hotel accommodations and alternative housing, delivering social welfare assistance, deploying security personnel, removing debris, employing temporary workers, and rehabilitating damaged public spaces. The lawsuit seeks to recover the substantial expenses incurred by the municipality as a result of the Iranian attack.

Shurat HaDin argues that Iran cannot claim sovereign immunity to avoid responsibility for the destruction. According to the organization, the attack falls under the tort exception to sovereign immunity established in Israel's Foreign Sovereign Immunities Law, since the damage was caused by an act committed within Israeli territory. The organization further argues that Iran's indiscriminate firing of ballistic missiles toward civilian population centers constitutes a serious violation of international law and a war crime.

Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, President of Shurat HaDin, said the lawsuit represents another front in the campaign to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its attacks against Israeli civilians. "It is time for the Iranians to pay for their actions," Darshan-Leitner declared. "The murderous terror regime that casts a shadow of fear over the entire Middle East cannot hide behind sovereign immunity while launching missiles at innocent civilians."

She emphasized that the struggle against Iran must extend beyond military operations to include legal and economic measures targeting the regime's financial resources. "The campaign against Iran does not end on the battlefield; it extends to the courts, bank accounts, assets, and every financial resource of the Iranian regime." Darshan-Leitner vowed to continue pursuing legal action against Iran on behalf of victims of terrorism. "We will continue to fight on behalf of the victims of terror until we bring about the economic collapse of the Ayatollah regime," she concluded.