A rabbi who is well-known and respected in the community counseled a woman in divorce proceedings as part of his position. The husband thereof opened a shaming campaign by e-mail messages, distribution of leaflets and documents that were released to hundreds of people.
The Court accepted the claim and held that the rabbi would be compensated and an order was issued prohibiting the publication and distribution of defamatory publications in the future. Defamation is, inter alia, a publication that may humiliate a person in the eyes of others or demean the person due to acts, behavior or traits attributed to him or which may damage its business or profession. Publication of defamation entitles the victim to seek damages for each publication in the amount specified under the law without proof of damage and if the defamatory publication was made with the intention to harm even double the amount. Here, the rabbi is a well-known and reputable figure in the community who had to deal with a blatant, extensive and continuous defamation campaign that included 17 different publications, in various scopes, including an approach to the rabbi's employers in order to have him fired, an approach to the school the rabbi's granddaughter attends and also an explicit call intended to "warn the public against him" without any justification. The publications dishonored the rabbi's good name and were made with intent of the publisher to harm the rabbi. As a result, the rabbi was awarded an increased compensation of one million shekels and an order was issued prohibiting any further harmful publication that constitutes defamation.