The ability to compensate, the state or the public authority has the financial resources and the ability to disperse the damage, and the personal lawsuit against the public servant adds nothing to the injured party; The burden of liability in torts is, in fact, placed on the employer, not only in the public sector but also in the private sector, and therefore the proposed arrangement is more of an official recognition of an existing legal reality.
(The bill, at p. 134; and see also Avnieli, at p. 466)
Indeed, one of the main purposes that the legislature had in mind in granting immunity to a public servant from tort claims was to provide a response to the application of improper pressure and excessive deterrence of the public servant in the performance of his duties for fear of personal lawsuits that would be filed against him (Civil Appeal Authority 9227/12 Adv. Granot, Receiver v. Speizer, [Published in Nevo] Verse 19 (August 27, 2013); Civil Appeal 9040/10 Pinchas Gideon & Sons in Tax Appeal v. Bank Leumi Le-Israel in Tax Appeal [Published in Nevo] (17.10.2012); Gilad Part Two, at p. 93; Kalhora and Bardenstein, at p. 302; Israel Gilad Torts Law - Limits of Liability B 1052 (2012)). The Chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, MK Michael Eitan, also noted this when he presented Amendment 10 to the Ordinance to the Knesset plenum, saying:
These are cases in which there is a lawsuit, or the threat of a lawsuit, against public servants. What's the problem? The problem is that sometimes public servants have to fulfill their duties, and powerful people, let's say wealthy people, come up to them, threaten them, tell them: If you don't give us the license, if you don't give us the permit, we'll sue you. That public servant is in a situation where he fears that if he does not respond, he will have to go to court and defend himself personally.
This point requires a very, very delicate balance. On the one hand, we want to protect public servants so that they can make decisions and not be subject to threats. How do you do it? By having the state come and say: If there is a lawsuit against a public servant, the state steps into its shoes and manages the trial, and it is the defendant. There is no lawsuit against that public servant...