Civil Appeal Authority 1954/24 Netanel Vaknin v. Kibbutz Nir David – Cooperative Society

Civil Appeal Authority 1954/24

Judge Noam Sohlberg:

On the agenda is the issue of the proper judicial handling of the type of lawsuits known as "silencing lawsuits."

1. Application for leave to appeal against the decision of the Nof HaGalil-Nazareth District Court (titled 'Judgment'), dated January 31, 2024, at the Civil Appeals Authority 44278-01-24 (Judge Avraham) [Nevo].  In the decision, the Applicant's request for leave to appeal against the decision of the Nof HaGalil-Nazareth Magistrate's Court, dated October 3, 2023, in Civil Case 23321-05-21 (Judge A.  Safadi), [Nevo], in which the Applicant's request to dismiss the lawsuit filed against him by the Respondent was rejected out of hand.

The story of the act and the proceedings so far: "'And he fought in the stream' - [...] On the business of the river" (Bavli, Yoma 22:2)

2. The Applicant, Netanel Vaknin, a resident of the city of Beit She'an, and the Respondent, Kibbutz Nir David Agricultural Cooperative Society in a Tax Appeal (hereinafter: the Kibbutz), are two parties to a heated public debate regarding the right of public access to the 'Hasi' River, which passes through the Kibbutz's territory. Vaknin is the director of a Facebook group called "Liberating Hasi" (hereinafter: the group), which has more than 20,000 members, who share Vaknin's position in the debate over the right of access to the stream.  In the framework of the group's discourse, and in light of the nature of the struggle for which the group was opened and is taking place, members of the group phrased, more than once or twice, in harsh and aggressive language about the kibbutz; Vaknin himself, too, did not put his hand in the plate, and in his possession were harsh words of criticism directed at the kibbutz.
3. Against this background, on November 17, 2020, Adv. Ofek Shuster, on behalf of the kibbutz, sent a letter addressed to Vaknin, entitled "Committing Injustices against Kibbutz Nir David". At the beginning of the letter, a variety of quotes were collected from the group's discourse, including criticisms and accusations against the kibbutz; I will suffice with the first three mentioned, I think they illustrate the spirit of the words: "dogs are sons of dogs"; "They have no right to exist"; "Only to me do they remind me of the Nazis? [...] The Aryan race versus the Jew." Later in the letter, it was claimed that Facebook group managers bear responsibility for defamatory publications that are raised as part of the discourse that takes place in the groups.  For this reason, it was argued against Vaknin that being a "manager in the group", and "an active and active member of the group and 'in the field', means that "the very existence of the group imposes on me[and] an extraordinary responsibility, to the extent that the very existence of the group constitutes a material burden for [and] a significant burden".  This, inter alia, takes into account the provisions of the Prohibition of Defamation Law, 5725-1965 (hereinafter: the Law), regarding compensation without proof of damage, for a publication published with the intention of causing harm.
4. The letter also claimed that on October 16, 2020, as part of a lecture given by Vaknin at the Kibbutzim College, he distributed "things that are not only not true, but cannot be true at all," "in order to blacken the kibbutz." Finally, it was argued that in the framework of the aforementioned struggle, the group also heard several calls "to take actions 'on the ground' against the kibbutz," when Vaknin himself "combined thought and action" and carried out "a long list of unacceptable actions and unusual nuisances" toward the kibbutz, such as playing deafening music on the kibbutz's grounds, climbing the kibbutz's fences, disrupting the movement of vehicles at the kibbutz gate and within its territory, and so on.
5. The letter was summarized by a series of demands that the kibbutz addressed to Vaknin:

"44.1.  Immediately delete any publication published in connection with the kibbutz on any website or Facebook page.  In addition, in view of the unimaginable scope of the unjust publications in [the group], and the extreme negative nature of the group, you are required to delete the group, without any delay.