In 2011, Tamimi, a cousin of the notorious Ahlam Tamimi, was freed from an Israeli prison under the terms of the controversial Gilad Shalit deal. She was whisked away to Jordan, where she has been courted ever since by Arab and Western media as some sort of heroic “resistance fighter.”

Despite her vicious crime, Tamimi lives a life of luxury and privilege, thanks to the lucrative salary she receives from Hamas, which is indirectly financed by Western governments who contribute to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA). Tamimi has never denied her role in the Sbarro terror attack, and her pride in slaughtering Jews and Americans is on display for anyone to see when she parades herself on television.

After a long campaign by the Roths to seek justice for Malkie, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) officially filed charges against Tamimi in 2017, and announced that they would seek her extradition to stand trial in the United States. The FBI also added her to their most wanted list of terrorists.

For those who thought that justice would finally be achieved, Jordan’s reaction was a shock. Despite claiming to be an American ally and having established a mutual extradition treaty with the US in 1995, the Jordanian government claimed that the treaty hadn’t been ratified in their parliament — and have thus denied the request.

Recently the Trump administration said it is weighing “all options” to press Jordan to extradite Ahlam Tamimi including the withholding of aid to Jordan to inspire compliance with its extraction request. This announcement is further predicated on the “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2020,” which was signed into law on December 20, 2019. Section 7055 of the act provides for financial consequences for Jordan if the case is not handled properly. 

This is an important tool to leverage the extradition of Ahlam Tamimi. The United States has long been a major provider of aid to Jordan. In early 2018, the Trump Administration signed a five-year, $6.4 billion aid agreement with Jordan that increased the annual amount of aid by $275 million to $1.3 billion. The boost “highlights the pivotal role Jordan plays in helping foster and safeguard regional stability and supports US objectives such as the global campaign to defeat ISIS, counter-terrorism cooperation and economic development,” the State Department then said then.

Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, stated: “As Americans we must seek justice and prevent the likes of the notorious terrorist and cold-blooded murder, Ahlam Tamimi, from avoiding the bar of justice and living the life of luxury and privilege in Jordan. This brutal killer must be held accountable for the murder of Malkie Roth, an innocent 15-year old American teenager. Malkie Roth was deprived of life due to the heinous acts of a cold-blooded, decrepit, barbaric individual who does not value life. As Americans, we call upon the Trump Administration to insist that Jordan honor their treaty and extradite Tamimi to stand trial and be held accountable for this brutal killing.”

Mirocznik continued, “as Americans, we must make certain that American tax payer money is not used by Hamas and Jordan to reward a heinous criminal like Ahlam Tamimi for killing Malkie Roth. The blood of this innocent American teenager demands justice. How can it be that the Roth family loses a child and the terrorist criminal publicly lives a life of luxury? Therefore, the Rabbinical Alliance of America calls upon all peace-loving people to insist that the United States of America prevent our money from being spent to reward the killers of Americans and ensure that such expenditures terminate immediately.”