In view of the court's recommendation, defendants 1 and 4 did not comply with the notice to a third party that they sent to Menorah Company. Therefore, in a partial judgment of August 11, 2025, I ordered the dismissal of the claim to a third party against Menorah Company, while charging defendants 1 and 4 for expenses in its favor.
The events and findings of the proceeding after the filing of the pleadings
Following the hearing held on June 1, 2020, I was asked by the plaintiffs to issue an order to the Israel Police to photograph an investigation file, which was allegedly taken against the transfer of the Goren hearing in relation to the factual issue that is the subject of the statement of claim. In my decision of September 10, 2020, I rejected the request, stating, inter alia, that if the plaintiffs wish to photograph material from an ongoing investigation file, they must act in accordance with the State Attorney's directive No. 14.8. At the same time, I rejected the request to add another plaintiff, Mr. Yoram Buchnik, whose case is allegedly quite similar, since the addition does not help to bring the dispute to a resolution. In this context, I determined that the fact that another person has a similar cause of action does not constitute grounds for retracting the proceeding, in relation to a claim that was filed a long time earlier, especially when the application was filed close to the date set for the submission of the plaintiffs' evidence (see my additional decision on the matter of October 15, 2020).
On September 16, 2020, the plaintiffs submitted their evidence, including the plaintiffs' affidavits (an affidavit by Ms. Vyshevsky filed on September 22, 2020); an expert appraiser's opinion, Mr. Ron Hever; affidavits on behalf of Mr. Moshe Horowitz (the son of plaintiff 3) and Mr. Elia Shimoni Cohen (the spouse of plaintiff 7). The plaintiffs also filed a motion to summon Mr. Shimon Cohen, the deputy mayor of Ashkelon at the time, as well as Mr. Yoram Buchnik, who also purchased a plot of land from defendant 4 in the same area (in the hearing on July 1, 2021, I allowed the submission of an affidavit on behalf of Mr. Buchnik in lieu of his testimony in the main interrogation).