The Human Side
Of Cold Israeli Law

_c

CARL ALPERT
Special to The Jewish News

ourts of law are solemn places,
but no venue in Israel more
accurately reflects the realities
and the human side of life in
Israel than those sacred precincts
where justice is administered both
fairly and mercifully. The following
are gleaned from court proceedings
and ancillary sources.
It Happened in the Car A prosti-
tute who was occupied with her pro-
fession in a car parked near the beach
was shot and wounded by an intruder.
She sued the insurance company for
injuries sustained in the car. A Tel
Aviv judge ruled that this was by no
means a traffic accident and turned
down her request.
The Whistling Girl Esther
Rosenberg of Raanana loves to whistle
and keeps herself in good spirits at
home by pursing her lips and engag-
ing in self-made music. That is until
her neighbors complained that the
H shrill sounds at all hours of the day
and night were driving them crazy. A
Kfar Saba judge ruled that she must
limit her whistling to no more than
two hours a day, even in her own
home.
/—
The Shoe Fits Elderly folks in
Ashdod complained that a young
woman who knocked on their doors
on various pretexts had been stealing
from their apartments. In one case, a
man who returned from the kitchen
with a glass of water she had requested
caught her in the act of ransacking his
drawers. She made off in a hurry, but
in her haste she left one of her shoes
behind. Good detective work located
her at her home where the matching
shoe was found. The judge found the
evidence convincing.
Everybody Does It A Nahariya
businessman accused an employee of
making numerous expensive personal
phone calls from his office, which also
tied up the phone. When she refused
to pay up, he sued. She told the judge
that 95 percent of employees in Israel
did the same. The judge arranged for a
financial settlement.
The Dentist Dare Not Open His
Mouth The Israel Dentists
Association has enacted a bylaw which
forbids its members from voicing criti-
cism of the work of other dentists who
had treated the patient previously.
/_) One dentist has now gone to court
challenging the legality of the provi-
sion on the grounds that it infringes
on his duty to provide honest and full

/—

treatment and advice on the basis of
what he finds in the mouth. The case
has yet to be heard.
`Weather' To Believe or Not to
Believe A Haifa mother heard the
forecast on Israel radio that the weath-
er would be springlike. She went out
without a sweater, caught cold and
missed four days of work. She sued
the radio station and the forecaster for
damages, including the cost of medi-

Thank you for
a great year!
All of us wish you
the healthiest and
happiest of
New Years ...

„---

771\

The scales of
justice in Israel.

cine and mental anguish.
The Lawyer Turned Down the
Case When lawyer Moshe Meroz
emerged from a Tel Aviv movie house
one evening, he discovered his car had
been stolen. He at once informed the
police and in quick order they detect-
ed the car on the roads and brought it
to the station house, together with the
two men apprehended. Mr. Meroz
was informed and quickly came to get
his car. The two, facing a night in jail,
turned to the lawyer and without
knowing the reason for his presence
in the police station asked if he would
represent them in court. Mr. Meroz
turned down the case.
The Soft-hearted Israeli An Israeli
firm opened a branch office in a
European city. The employees were all
locals, but the manager was an Israeli.
One day the manager fired a worker
for good reason. The latter came to
him leading for a letter of recommen-
dation, without which he would have
difficulty getting another job. The
soft-hearted Israeli gave him a warm
letter, praising his abilities. The work-
er went straight to a lawyer, sued on
the grounds of unjustified dismissal
and obtained damages of a quarter of
a million dollars. The case is cited as a
warning to employers.
Ghost Writing Paid Off A 27-
year-old unemployed musician from
Kiryat Bialik put to good use his very
legible handwriting. he provided bank
robbers with clearly written notes
which they thrust at bank clerks.
Typical example: "This is a holdup.
Don't shout. Hand over the money, or
I shoot." The notes were effective and
he got an appropriate share of the
booty — until a judge sent him to
prison for five years, even though he
had not physically taken part in any
robbery.

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