There is no dispute that at the time the plaintiffs' applications for membership in the defendant were submitted, as it is today, the defendant was and still is, the only official association in the field of Jiu-Jitsu in Israel, and therefore, it must be viewed, for our purposesand as a monopolistic body in this sport, and from this point of view, its conduct and decisions must be examined (including the failure to make a decision, as in our case).
The defendant's articles of association stated, during the period relevant to the lawsuit, regarding membership in the defendant: "... Any person who is qualified to be a member of an association according to the law shall submit a written request to the association's management. ... The decision regarding whether or not to accept the applicant as a member of the association is in the hands of the association's management". It should be noted and emphasized that Section 7 of the Regulations, which specifies the defendant's institutions, distinguishes between "General Meeting...", and between "... הנהלה...". In other words, according to the bylaws, the body authorized to decide on the admission of new members to the defendant is the "management of the association" or its board of directors. Needless to say, the hearing of the application is also supposed to be conducted in accordance with the rules that apply to the defendant as a dual entity, including its duties in the field of public law. This includes the relevant body in the association - and in our case, its board of directors - He must consider in the matter of any application to join the defendant only relevant considerations, and he must act reasonably and transparently, while preserving the rules of natural justice, and in any case, if he decides to reject an application to join, he must explain his decision.
In our case, the defendant's board of directors did not convene at all to discuss which of the applications were joined, when the applications were filed, and in any event, the applications were not discussed and no decision was made in respect of them, for several months, until the filing of the claims, nor in the years that have passed since then.