12-34-56-78 Chekhov v. State of Israel, P.D. 51 (2)
A few days later, on January 30, 2017, Kestenbaum sent another notice to Yaakobi, on behalf of Koffler, in which he offered to purchase the property for the sum of NIS 1,500,000.Fees included".
On January 30, 2017, Yaacobi forwarded a draft sale agreement to Kestenbaum, and also provided Kofler with a brokerage agreement (hereinafter: The Brokerage Agreement) According to him, Yaacobi is entitled to a brokerage fee of NIS 500,000, plus VAT, if an agreement is entered into to purchase the property. Koffler signed the brokerage agreement as he went. Afterwards Contacts continued between Kestenbaum to Bar Yosef.
On February 13, 2017, the sale agreement was entered into pursuant to Applicant 2, Advance Web Solutions Ltd., a wholly-owned company of Kestenbaum (hereinafter, Together with Kestenbaum: Kestenbaum and the company he owns), Purchases the property for a total of NIS 2,500,000. On the same day, Kestenbaum paid Bar Yosef the sum of NIS 500,000, together with VAT, and a document was drawn up between them in which, among other things, Bar Yosef undertook to return the funds if the sale agreement was canceled. Shortly thereafter, the owners of the property paid NIS 125,000 in fees to Bar Yosef.
- After Yaacobi learned that the sale agreement had been concluded, Yaacobi contacted Kofler and demanded that he pay him the brokerage fees in the sum of NIS 500,000 in accordance with the brokerage agreement that was entered into between them. In response, Koffler replied that he had not purchased the property at all, and moreover, he did not even know that Kestenbaum had purchased the property through the company he owned, and therefore he had no obligation to pay the brokerage fees to Yaakobi.
- Following Koffler's refusal to pay the aforementioned brokerage fees, on July 11, 2019, Yaacobi and the company he owns filed a lawsuit in the Magistrate's Court against Koffler, Kestenbaum and the company he owns (it should be noted that the lawsuit was initially filed against the property owner and Bar Yosef, but the claim against them was dismissed by consent). Essentially, Yaacobi and the company he owned claimed that it was Yaakobi's efforts that led to the conclusion of the sale agreement and therefore he was the "effective factor" and that they should be paid the brokerage fees in accordance with the brokerage agreement.