All of the proceedings mentioned above relate to promissory notes that were electronically signed, not traded, and decided in the courts, after most of them were initiated in a proceeding of objection to the execution of a promissory note in the Execution Offices. The Applicant's case is no different from theirs.
In the margins, it should be noted that I did not find reference to the specific deed that is the subject of this proceeding, since it is a deed that has long since been paid, and the respondent's objection was based on the fact that it was signed electronically and not on the form or strength of the signature. In addition, the Applicant noted that the manner of the electronic signature she uses has changed since then, and today it is a graphic signature on a computer screen (see the words of the Applicant's counsel in the hearing paragraph of September 19, 2024, p. 4, line 26), which can be considered, in my opinion, a distinctly personal act.
- Therefore, in the case of promissory notes that are not negotiable or have not actually been traded, and these are the majority of promissory notes in Israel, there is no contradiction between the purpose of the Banknotes Ordinance and the Electronic Signature Law, so that an electronic signature can be recognized as a signature on a note for all intents and purposes, provided that it is a signature that constitutes a "distinct personal act" and was signed using technology that enables identification of a single value and the inability to change the source file. Therefore, it is possible to open proceedings regarding these banknotes in the prescribed track for the execution of banknotes in the Execution Bureaus. These are banknotes in which no trading activity has been carried out, and the person who submits the note for execution at the Execution Office is the one who has the original note at his order.
As for the other banknotes, and in particular checks, things are much more complicated, and additional work is required in relation to them. Ostensibly, they raise a difficulty on the level of the object element of the note. These issues are not the subject of the proceeding here, and therefore I am not required to do so.