JORDAN HAS BEEN PROTECTING A MURDEROUS PALESTINIAN TERRORIST SINCE 2001

Hold Jordan accountable: Extradite Sbarro terrorist Ahlam Tamimi

The involvement of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, continued high-level meetings and public pressure signal a shift to hold Amman accountable for its obligations. 

 

By Bennett Ruda 

 

JNS

Sep 5, 2025

 

 

The scene of a suicide-bombing terror attack at the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem's city center that killed 16 people, including seven children, and wounded 130 others on Aug. 9, 2001.

 

Last month, Arnold and Frimet Roth marked the 24th anniversary of their daughter Malki’s murder. The 15-year-old American citizen was one of 16people killed in a suicide bombing of the Sbarro pizza in Jerusalem on Aug. 9, 2001.

The mastermind of that attack was Ahlam Tamimi, who remains free thanks to Israel’s neighbor, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Despite an extradition treaty, Jordan remains defiant in protecting Tamimi, the unrepentant terrorist whose victims also included two other Americans and an unborn baby.

Arnold Roth posed a painful question in a July 2021 issue of The Free Press: “Will Joe Biden grant my daughter justice?” At the end of his presidency, the answer was a clear “no” since Tamimi was still free.               

                

               

Now here we are, during President Donald Trump’s second term. Will things be any better? Jordan pretends the treaty doesn’t exist, while pocketing $1.5 billion annually in aid from the United States. But here’s the thing: Jordan has already used that same treaty to extradite three terrorists to the United States over the years:

• In 1995, Eyad Ismoil was extradited to the United States for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
• In 2006, Mohammad Zaki Amawi was extradited for plotting attacks against U.S. targets.
• In 2015, Nader Saadeh was extradited to the United States for conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS.

Tamimi should be on that list.

The depth of Jordan’s deception and proof of the extradition treaty were revealed in 2021, when the Roths sued the U.S. government under the Freedom of Information Act for documents related to the treaty. Among the papers they received was the U.S. State Department’s authorized copy of King Hussein’s personal declaration to the U.S. government, translated from Arabic into English, and signed on July 13, 1995, that says, in part:

“ … Hussein I, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, having reviewed the Extradition Treaty signed in Washington on March 28, 1995, between the Government of the Hashemite [Kingdom] of Jordan and the Government of the United States of America, do hereby declare our agreement to and ratification of that Treaty in whole and in part. We further pledge to carry out its provisions and abide by its Articles, and We, God willing, shall not allow its violation … .”

Since then, Washington has been somewhat, but not completely, silent. In 2019 and 2020, Congress members, including then-House Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), sent letters pressing the State Department and Jordan, warning that giving Tamimi “legal impunity” was “deeply troubling.” Yet action never followed those words, and Tamimi remains free. Nadler isn’t running again.

There have been some indications of American pressure on Jordan of late. On Oct. 1, 2020, for instance, Tamimi’s husband, Nizar Tamimi, was forced to leave the country after Jordan refused to renew his residency permit. He currently resides in Qatar.

Earlier this summer, the Trump administration was asked about Tamimi during a State Department Press Briefing as a reporter questioned what was “preventing” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio from pushing the Jordanians to enforce Tamimi’s extradition. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce promised to get more information.

The issue was raised two days later at another State Department press briefing. This time, the question was tied to President Trump’s Day One executive order declaring that America and its citizens come first.

Noting that Jordan receives more than a billion dollars in aid each here, the reporter asked a State Department spokesperson. “How is it conceivable that Tamimi is still there, and any of that falls under these dictates of what American foreign policy is supposed to be, with three dead Americans at Tamimi’s hands? … the U.S. failure to turn the screws on Jordan is a violation of Trump’s promise that ‘the foreign policy of the United States shall champion core American interests and always put America and American citizens first.’”

This time, it was deputy spokesperson Thomas Pigott who proved a tepid response, saying the United States “has continually emphasized” to Jordan that Tamimi has to be held accountable, and that the United States “continues to impress” upon them that she should be brought to justice. This response, however, likely fell far short of the kind of pressure the reporter was asking about.

But it does seem that some more concrete steps to extradite Tamimi are being taken.

On July 17, the Roths met with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who plays a key role in extraditions. They also had a private meeting in May with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and presented him with a petition with more than 30,000 signatures urging more pressure on Jordan. However, the Roths have yet to meet with Rubio.

For years, Tamimi’s continued freedom has been a blatant symbol of impunity and a painful affront to the victims’ families. Yet lately, we are seeing signs of pressure being applied to the Trump administration. The recent involvement of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, continued high-level meetings and public pressure signal a possible shift and re-energizing of the push to finally hold Jordan accountable for its obligations.

It’s time to force Jordan to choose: Tamimi or $1.5 billion.