Knesset (Israeli Parliament) member Tali Gottlieb published on Facebook against a taxi driver. In the post, she made accusations and used vulgar swear words, using his first name (but not sir name) and attaching a picture of the back of the taxi, showing the license plate number and the name of the taxi stand.
The Court found that defamation existed despite non-publication of the subject's full name. Defamation is something the publication of which is likely to humiliate a person in the eyes of others, making him a target of hatred and contempt due to actions, behavior or qualities attributed to him that harm his position, whether a public position or another position, in his business, occupation or profession. There is a defense of truth if it can be shown that there is truth in the matter and that there is a public interest in the publication and it was made in good faith. Here, the Knesset member published posts on the social network that enable the identification of the driver based on the combination of all the data included in the body of the post and the photograph attached thereto, including his first name, type of vehicle, color, license plate number, and the name of the taxi station where he was employed. People contacted him following the posts and cursed him. Both the Knesset member and others who were exposed to the posts called the taxi station manager and requested him to terminate the driver's employment. Although this was a post of public interest, the Knesset member did not show that it was indeed true. Therefore, she was ordered to compensate and pay legal costs.