"Q: ... Do you know what an irrevocable power of attorney is, did Attorney S. tell you that you sign an irrevocable power of attorney? That you are not allowed to retract it, to retract it?
A: Right.
Q: Did he tell you?
A: Did he say? He didn't tell me. But I know what it is,
Q: No, didn't he tell you that you signed an irrevocable power of attorney? Here's your signature, right? Look, do you know this document? This is your signature,
A: That's right."
- Therefore, and in the absence of any other argument and evidence, it is necessary to proceed from the starting point that the defendant understood the gift affidavit and the power of attorney that he signed, and therefore he is not entitled to withdraw the gift without the cause specified in section 5(c) of the Law.
- In the circumstances, there is no need to prove that the plaintiff changed her situation in reliance on the undertaking. However, and more than necessary, I will note that I placed confidence in the plaintiff's testimony that due to the knowledge that she had a plot of land that she received as a gift, she used her money for other needs and not for savings, and that if she had known that the defendant had reneged on the undertaking, she might have made a different profit (at pp. 8, 13-15 and 35-38 and at 9, paras. 1-11 ). The plaintiff's claim that she paid purchase tax for the land was also not contradicted (p. 9, paras. 23-24 of the Talmud).
Is the defendant entitled to withdraw the gift in light of the provisions of section 5(c) of the Gift Law?
- In accordance with section 5(c) of the Law, the giver of the gift may withdraw the gift (as long as it has not been completed) in the event of disgraceful behavior by the recipient of the gift towards the giver of the gift or a significant deterioration in the financial situation of the giver - even in a situation in which the giver of the gift has waived his right to withdraw the gift.
- In our case, the defendant did not claim a deterioration in his condition and in fact concentrated his claims, for the purposes of this section of the law, with disgraceful conduct on the part of the plaintiff.
- Other Municipality Applications 350/96 Weisser v. Shavit IsrSC 52(5) 797 (1999) held that the expression "disgraceful conduct" should be interpreted in a broad interpretation that makes it easier for a person who undertook to give a gift to renege on his obligation. The burden of proof to prove the disgraceful behavior or the actual deterioration in his financial situation is on the giver of the gift, the defendant.
- In our case, the defendant actually gave a number of versions:
- In the statement of defense, the defendant in fact based his main arguments on his right to withdraw from the gift without cause, certain aspects of the agreement, statute of limitations and delay (which were rejected in previous chapters) and no claim of disgraceful behavior on the part of the plaintiff was made.
- In the affidavit of the main witness, the claim of disgraceful behavior was detailed in a very concise manner, and it was even claimed that the disgraceful behavior took place after the withdrawal from the gift, and in fact testifies to knowledge of the withdrawal of the gift (paragraph 17 of the Regulations).
It should be noted that the allegation of disgraceful conduct is also unclear when it is claimed that the plaintiff canceled the transaction on the very same day/the next day (see also the defendant's statement at p. 5, paras. 8-9 of March 4, 2025).
- During his interrogation, the defendant admitted that he had withdrawn from the gift transaction due to "his interest" and for no reason related to the plaintiff. In fact, the defendant confirmed that the plaintiff had not done him any harm, that she was taking care of the mother with whom they lived, and that in fact only in the past two years had he not spoken to her due to an "internal" matter that was not detailed by him. See in this regard at p. 42 at paras. 33-39, at p. 43 at paras. 1-10 and in particular the aforesaid at p. 51 at paras. 17-34 of the Talmud:
"A. Why did I come back?