If Ben Shachar had believed, even if also out of negligence, that the contractual relationship between a Chassid and Knopf did not yet exist, then he would have been the only person who had said it, and no one else. The tenant does not need the permission, even formal, permission of a stranger to extend the lease period, or to sign a new lease agreement with the landlord. Moreover, when a Chassid appears on the horizon - whether on his own initiative or on the initiative of Ben Shachar - the basic and opening question on Ben Shachar's part should be, "What is your status?" If he had asked , and logic dictates that if he was not told, he would certainly
that he should have asked - there was also no reason to hide the facts from him as they were. On the contrary, in the trial, both Knopf and Ben Shahar argued that the entire contract P/2 between Knopf and Hasid was intended only to enable Hasid to exert pressure on Ben Shahar to leave early. Their argument was indeed rejected, but it is clear that they do not make the opposite claim, namely that the Chassid had a reason to conceal his rights under the contract P/2 and the fact of his termination. The obvious conclusion is that at least Ben Shachar knew at the time facts that gave him a reasonable basis to think that the Chassid had status in the leased property from the end of the date onwards. However, he may have preferred to close his eyes to the obvious conclusion and also refrained from asking the parties concerned whether a contract had been entered into between them. Such "turning a blind eye" is the equivalent of actual knowledge even in criminal matters, let alone torts, which is a branch of civil law. As stated in Harper & James' book "The Law of Torts", section 6.8 at page 497:
"A person cannot be held liable for inducing a breach of a contract which he neither knew nor had to know existed".
On "turning a blind eye" as a criminal informant, see additional discussion 8/68 Solomon the Metapriest v. the Attorney General, IsrSC 22(2) 536, at p. 546, where the then President (Agranat) says: "... The mental state of 'turning a blind eye' is, in the eyes of the law, real knowledge..."