Published in Afik News 280 10.04.2019
A father and son contended that a foreign website, whose operators are from Latvia and the United States, published defamatory statements about them in order to extort a ransom from them, in exchange for its removal.
The Court rejected a motion for a permit to make service of process of the claim outside Israel to the seat of the website operators. In light of the location and activities of the operators of the Internet site, the lack of knowledge of the Hebrew language and the absence of any connection to Israel, it is clear that conducting the procedure in Israel would involve considerable difficulties and investment of exceptional resources and therefore Israel is not the appropriate forum for hearing the claim.