Caselaw

Civil Case (Rishon LeZion) 54478-09-20 Amnon Yitzhak v. Google LLC - part 2

February 19, 2025
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- Quotes from the opinion of the Center for Victims of Cults about the plaintiff's community, from which it seems, prima facie, that the plaintiff is mentally and physically abusing his followers;

- A video clip relating to Mr. Amir Bastiker who killed his neighbor Mr. Itay Mor z"l, with a graphic description of the act of killing.  According to what is alleged in the video, Mr. Bastiker used to listen to the plaintiff's lectures obsessively, until a few hours before the murder.  In the verdict, it was determined that Mr. Bastiker was incompetent at the time of the murder.  The video also states that "this is not the first time that Amnon Yitzhak's followers have been mentally hurt and used violence" - and there are references to publications regarding violent incidents that allegedly link his followers to criminal acts.

At the end, a slide appears stating, "Clarification: The revelations about Amnon Yitzchak were made in order to warn the public about impostorous 'rabbis' and out of concern to teach all of us to stick to and obey the great sages of the generation and to know Torah only!!";

  1. File 2 - "Amnon Yitzhak is the head of a cult! Watch the shocking investigation of the Israeli Center for Victims of Cults." A slide in which the words "Who is the famous rabbi who heads a cult?" appear, with a reference to the full video, which can be accessed via a link;
  • File 3 - Video "Recordings that harass the head of the cult who curses and threatens his followers" which includes:

- Quotes from the report of the Center for Victims of Cults regarding the plaintiff's modus operandi and its effects on his followers;

- Audio clips that are allegedly heard from the plaintiff's mouth, including quotes relating to his opponents and their family members who fell ill or passed away, ostensibly due to their opposition to him, including, inter alia: "No one will be cleansed, everyone will die a strange death";

  1. File 4 - "Exclusive Exposure - Amnon Yitzhak's Son Tells About His Father's Abuse of His Children" - A video with audio clips attributed to the plaintiff's son, describing the plaintiff's acts of abuse of him and his brother;
  2. File 5 - "A Shocking Revelation - Amnon Yitzhak's Son in Secrets from the Family and the Closed Sect". A video that is partially identical in content to File 4, and below are quotes from the report of the Center for Victims of Cults in relation to the plaintiff and the Committee of His Followers.  In addition, there is a segment in the video of a conversation between a community member and the plaintiff who is alleged to have humiliated the member by the plaintiff, as well as statements by a retiring from the community describing the plaintiff's attitude toward him, and claiming, inter alia, that he became bankrupt due to money transfers to the plaintiff's coffers, in accordance with his demand and as a condition for his continued membership in the community;
  3. File 6 - "What Happened to the Repentant Who Became a Cult Leader, and How He Relates to the G5" - A satirical video about the prosecutor who mocks him and criticizes him for his attitude to the coronavirus, and his perception that the virus is a conspiracy by Bill Gates that seeks to create a new world order, and that the purpose of the vaccines is to introduce "nanochips" to the vaccinated. Among other things, an excerpt from an interview conducted with the plaintiff on Amnon Levy's show, regarding his position regarding the COVID-19 vaccines;
  • File 7 - A copy of sponsored Google ads referencing by means of a link to the website when performing a search under the plaintiff's name;
  • File 8 - "Watch How the Impostor Humiliated His Student". The video "The Full Investigation of Amnon Yitzhak's Sect" begins with quotes from the report of the Center for Victims of Cults about the plaintiff and his community.  The rest is the content of File 5;
  1. File 9 - "Watch, the followers of the impostorous rabbi who go out to threaten to murder rabbis". a video that includes audio video clips as well as copies of newspaper headlines, which are alleged to be documentation of violent behavior by the plaintiff's followers towards third parties who oppose him;
  2. File 10 - "Watch, Who is the man who pretends to be a rabbi who tells his sect members to burn holy books". A video that includes quotes from the report of the Center for Victims of Cults, the words of the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef who says about the plaintiff, among other things, that "he has no fear of Heaven," and against them the plaintiff's statements against Rabbi Ovadia Yosef as well as against Rabbis Yitzhak Yosef (about whom the plaintiff says his books should be transferred to the Genizah), Shlomo Mahfoud, David Yosef, Zamir Cohen, Yigal Cohen, Yitzhak Fenger, and Shalom Arush.
  3. File 11 - File 10 with French subtitles;
  • A file of 17 images found on the YouTube platform that includes images from the videos.
  1. The plaintiff filed a complaint with the police regarding the posts, and in addition, within the framework of the "notice and removal" doctrine, he appealed to Google and Meta to remove the publications from their establishments, as follows:

Referral to Google and the answer

  1. On June 28, 2020, the plaintiff's counsel applied to Google Israel to remove the publications on the grounds of defamation [(p. 39 of the affidavit of Mr. Karl Albin Gustafsson on behalf of Google (hereinafter: "Gustafsson")].  On July 15, 2020 and July 24, 2020, Google replied to the plaintiff's attorney as follows (pp.  43 and 45 of Gustafson's affidavit):

"After reviewing the information you provided in your application, YouTube has decided not to take any action on the following URLs (and this is where the URLs of the posts come in - my comment, R.A.) This, inter alia, is because, on the basis of the information provided, we are unable to determine that the content is illegal or violates Israeli law.

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