Natan Zehavi, a Radio Le-Lo Hafsaka broadcaster provided broadcasting services to the radio station as an independent contractor. Following a controversial on-air statement, the station suspended the broadcaster without pay and refused to reinstate him without receiving new financial guarantees on his part. However, the station refrained from formally terminating the agreement, thereby keeping his non-compete clause in effect.
The Court accepted the claim due to a breach of the agreement through the use of an unpaid "suspension" remedy, which does not exist in a contractor agreement, thereby creating "contractual imprisonment" instead of terminating the agreement as required. Unlike labour law, which in certain cases includes the option to suspend an employee, in a commercial contractor agreement subject to the Israeli Contracts Law and the Israeli Contract for Services Law, a party lacks the unilateral authority to create an interim state of unpaid "suspension." In the event of a dispute or breach, the aggrieved party must exercise standard contractual remedies (including termination), and is not permitted to unilaterally impose new conditions or freeze payment while keeping the contract in force. In our case, the station suspended the broadcaster but refrained from terminating the agreement in order to maintain his non-compete restriction. Furthermore, its demand for guarantees constituted an improper attempt to force a new contract. Consequently, the station itself is considered the breaching party of the agreement and was therefore ordered to pay the broadcaster his full remuneration for the months of "suspension," during which he was prevented from working for competitors.