Defamation and Online Harassment Laws in Israel

Israel's defamation rules come from a specific statute, the Prohibition of Defamation Law, 5725-1965. Section 1 defines defamation as something whose publication may humiliate a person in the eyes of others, expose them to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or harm them in their office, business, trade or profession, and it covers both individuals and companies. Section 2 says publication can be oral, written, printed or by any other means, and section 7 makes publishing defamation to one or more people other than the injured person a civil wrong, with listed parts of the Civil Wrongs Ordinance applying.

Source1Prohibition of Defamation Law, 5725-1965, ss. 1, 2 and 7 (Hebrew, consolidated text)

Under section 6 of the Prohibition of Defamation Law, a person who publishes defamation with intent to harm to two or more people other than the injured person faces up to one year in prison. Section 8 lets the injured person bring the criminal case themselves through a private criminal complaint, and under section 7A(a) a court that convicts can also order compensation without proof of damage.

Source1Prohibition of Defamation Law, 5725-1965, ss. 6, 7A(a) and 8 (Hebrew, consolidated text)

The Prohibition of Defamation Law does not set its own deadline for civil lawsuits, so the general rule in section 5(1) of the Prescription Law applies: claims that do not concern land must be filed within seven years. Under section 6 the period runs from the day the cause of action arose, but section 8 delays the start when the claimant did not know the relevant facts for reasons outside their control that reasonable care could not have prevented. Section 15A also leaves out of the count the period from October 7, 2023 to April 6, 2024 for claims whose deadline had not passed before that amendment.

Sources2Prescription Law, 5718-1958, ss. 5, 6, 8 and 15A (Hebrew, consolidated text)1Prohibition of Defamation Law, 5725-1965 (Hebrew, consolidated text)

The Prohibition of Defamation Law does not separate written from spoken defamation (section 2) and has no per se categories. Instead, section 7A lets a court in a civil case award compensation without any proof of damage, capped at 50,000 new shekels as adjusted to the consumer price index, and up to double that amount when the defamation was published with intent to harm. A person can receive this kind of compensation only once for the same defamation.

Source1Prohibition of Defamation Law, 5725-1965, s. 7A (Hebrew, consolidated text)

A court may order the defendant to publish a correction, a denial or the judgment at their own expense, and it can order a correction before the case ends if the defendant admits that part of the statement was defamatory or untrue (sections 9 and 10). Under section 17, when defamation appears in a newspaper or a radio or TV broadcast, the editor, the person who decided to publish it and the person responsible for the outlet lose the good-faith defense if they fail to publish the injured person's signed correction or denial with similar placement and prominence within a reasonable time. Under section 19, an unqualified apology, correction or denial published in the same place and manner can be taken into account to reduce the sentence or damages.

Source1Prohibition of Defamation Law, 5725-1965, ss. 9, 10, 17 and 19 (Hebrew, consolidated text)

Section 14 gives a defense when the statement was true and its publication was in the public interest. Section 15 protects publications made in good faith in listed situations, such as a legal, moral or social duty, protecting a legitimate personal interest, opinions on a person's conduct in a public role, and criticism of work they made public, and section 16 sets presumptions about when good faith exists. Section 13 fully protects certain publications, such as statements made during court proceedings, publications by the government or the State Comptroller in their official role, and fair and accurate reports of public court sessions.

Source1Prohibition of Defamation Law, 5725-1965, ss. 13 to 16 (Hebrew, consolidated text)

The Prevention of Stalking Law, 5762-2001, covers harassing or threatening someone in any way that gives reasonable grounds to fear the person will again harm their peace, privacy or liberty, or harm their body, including tracking their movements or contacting them orally, in writing or by any other means. A court can issue an order banning harassment, threats, surveillance and contact, and after a complaint to the police about a breach, an officer may arrest the person who breached it. Under the Protection of Privacy Law, spying on or tracking a person in a way likely to harass them is an invasion of privacy, which carries up to five years in prison when done willfully.

Sources3Prevention of Stalking Law, 5762-2001, ss. 2, 4, 5 and 8 (Hebrew, consolidated text)4Protection of Privacy Law, 5741-1981, ss. 2(1) and 5 (Hebrew, consolidated text)

Section 30 of the Communications (Telecommunications and Broadcasting) Law, 5742-1982, makes it a crime to use a telecommunications facility or end-user device in a way that unlawfully harms, frightens, harasses, causes anxiety or annoys, with a penalty of up to three years in prison. Section 192 of the Penal Law also punishes threatening a person by any means with unlawful harm to their body, freedom, property, reputation or livelihood, with intent to frighten or upset them, by up to three years in prison.

Sources5Communications (Telecommunications and Broadcasting) Law, 5742-1982, s. 30 (Hebrew, consolidated text)6Penal Law, 5737-1977, s. 192 (Hebrew, consolidated text)

The Protection of Privacy Law treats as an invasion of privacy the use or disclosure of information about a person's private affairs for a purpose other than the one it was given for, and the publication of matters relating to a person's intimate life, health or conduct in private (section 2(9) and (11)). An invasion of privacy is a civil wrong under section 4, and doing it willfully in these ways is a crime with up to five years in prison under section 5. In a civil case, a court can award up to 50,000 new shekels, adjusted to the consumer price index, without proof of damage, and up to double that when there was intent to harm (section 29A).

Source4Protection of Privacy Law, 5741-1981, ss. 2, 4, 5 and 29A (Hebrew, consolidated text)

Section 3(a)(5A) of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law, 5758-1998, treats as sexual harassment the publication, without consent, of a photo, video or recording of a person that focuses on their sexuality in circumstances that may humiliate or degrade them, including edited or combined material in which the person can be identified. The same section gives the publisher defenses, such as good faith, a legitimate purpose, or a public interest that justifies the publication. Under section 5(a), this offense carries the same penalty as a willful invasion of privacy under section 5 of the Protection of Privacy Law, which is up to five years in prison.

Sources7Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law, 5758-1998, ss. 3(a)(5A) and 5(a) (Hebrew, consolidated text)4Protection of Privacy Law, 5741-1981, s. 5 (Hebrew, consolidated text)