It seems, therefore, that the counterclaim was filed as a counterweight, mainly partial, in relation to the main claim. The counter-plaintiffs never bothered to prove it in any way. For this reason, the counter-plaintiffs did well to accede to my motion in a decision of June 16, 2025 to dismiss the counterclaim (see paragraph 212 of the summaries of defendants 1 and 4, and my additional decision of August 1, 2025). However, it is not possible to ignore the very filing of the counterclaim, which obligated the counter-defendants to file a statement of defense. The counter-plaintiffs could have assumed that filing the lawsuit on their part would obligate the other party to bear the costs involved in conducting the legal proceeding.
With regard to the notice to a third party sent by defendants 1 and 4 on October 31, 2019 to all the plaintiffs, Menorah and Mr. Dahari, it should be said that a perusal of the notice shows that its content was specific to Menorah (in respect of which a partial judgment was given, as stated), and not to the plaintiffs in the main claim. This notice did not lead the plaintiffs or defendants 1 and 4 to conduct their case, one against the other, other than what is reflected in the main statement of claim filed by the plaintiffs as opposed to the statement of defense filed by defendants 1 and 4. For this reason, and taking into account my decision of August 12, 2025, defendants 1 and 4 announced on August 14, 2025 that they did not insist on the notice to a third party that they filed against the plaintiffs in the main claim (see the plaintiffs' reasoning on the matter in their response of September 3, 2025, which exceeded the scope of the pages allowed for filing and the permission granted to raise claims regarding expenses only).
As to the notice to a third party filed by defendants 1 and 4 against Mr. Dahari, in the circumstances of the case I have not found that defendants 1 and 4 should be charged with expenses in favor of Mr. Dahari. This is because, as stated, the notice does not herald a different front of dispute than the one that served as the basis for Mr. Dahari's line of defense in the proceeding. In any event, in view of Mr. Dahari's manner of conduct, as described, he is not entitled to an award of expenses due to the notice to such a third party.