See also the aforesaid, Other Municipality Applications 2705/91 Rajah Salem Abu Jahla v. East Jerusalem Electric Company Ltd., 48(1) 554, to which the parties referred in their arguments:
"In other words, the test for the existence of another 'natural forum' is one of the most affinities. The natural forum for discussion will be the forum to which most of the relevant affiliations point and which has a 'real and substantial' connection to the case that is the subject of the discussion. In order to examine the relevant connections, the court will take into account not only considerations of the convenience of the parties and the expenses of the hearing, but also the law governing the case, the place of residence of the parties or the place where they conduct their business.
In order to delay the proceedings, the court must be convinced, in the context of the multiplicity test, that there is indeed a forum that is clearly more suitable for conducting the hearing. If the defendant did not succeed in convincing the court of the existence of such a forum, the court will not delay the hearing." (Paragraph 19)
- The application of the test of maximum affinity in our case leads to the conclusion that the natural forum that has the "real and substantial" connection to the matter is the court in Israel. I will elaborate.
With regard to considerations related to the parties, in the framework of which the convenience of the parties, the place of residence of the parties, the place of residence of the parties, the place where they conduct their business and the place of residence of the witnesses are taken into account. In our case, the plaintiff and defendant 2 are both residents of Israel. As for defendant 1, it was claimed that he is not a resident of Israel and has been living in the United States for about 15 years, but it was clarified that in addition to his American passport, he also holds an Israeli passport, and from defendant 1's claims it can be learned that he sometimes comes to Israel (also as part of that initial meeting in September 2023, and also noted that he was in Israel with his family due to tragic and unfortunate circumstances that befell him). as stated in paragraphs 15-16 of the application), so that it cannot be claimed that it is completely detached from the State of Israel and its connection to it.