I would like to emphasize that the state's declarations that it is aware of the need to make adjustments between banknote law and the modern economy have not gone unnoticed, and a perusal of the Internet reveals that on March 23, 2022, the Bank of Israel published a "Call for Consultation on the Technological Characterization of a Digital Debit Directive, a Digital Substitute for a Paper Check" (https://boi.org.il/publications/pressreleases/Call-to-Consultation-About-Technologically-Characterization-of-Digital-Billing Instruction-Digital-Alternative-Paper-to-Check-Paper). I will also add that the position paper on behalf of the World Trade Organization also calls for adapting English banknote law to our time, and proposes legal and technological solutions in this regard.
It is to be hoped that hard work is indeed being done by all the relevant parties in the country to bring about the formulation of an appropriate digital arrangement with respect to all types of banknotes, which will also provide a solution for the various aspects of negotiability.
On Legal Certainty and the Importance of Creating Competition
- Two additional reasons led me to the conclusion that the Applicant's position should be accepted and that the electronic signature on untraded promissory notes should be recognized.
- The first reason is the custom of merchants and the frequent use of electronic signatures nowadays, and the need for legal certainty. One of the criticisms voiced against the current wording of Section 2 of the Electronic Signature Law referred to the uncertainty derived from it. According to this criticism, any organization in the economy that wishes to make use of an electronic signature will have to decide the question of the purpose of any legislation and the question of the strength of the electronic signature required under it (see the discussion in the Science and Technology Committee of February 6, 2018 and the words of Adv. Haim Rabia on this matter).
The Applicant in our case based her business model on an electronic signature on a promissory note, and has now found herself in a situation in which the Respondent refused to consider these as promissory notes. It can be assumed that the Applicant was of the opinion that there was no legal impediment to making use of an electronic signature on a promissory note, and in this sense the case before us proves to a large extent the criticism that was heard in real time against the uncertainty derived from the wording of section 2 of the Electronic Signature Law.