Israeli court awards student NIS 80,000 over cruel school rumors

A magistrate’s court in Beit Shemesh ordered two ultra-Orthodox high school students to pay NIS 80,000 to a classmate after they spread degrading rumors about her, plus NIS 54,000 in legal costs to her and to the school where it happened. The ruling, issued Sunday, concerns a campaign carried out through a dedicated Instagram page and QR codes posted around the school.

The girls claimed the victim had sex with her divorced boss, became pregnant and had an abortion. Judge Elad Lang said the material was especially humiliating because the plaintiff was young and part of the religious ultra-Orthodox community, where premarital relations, pregnancy and abortion are considered a grave moral and social taboo. He wrote that the accusations were made with a man twice her age, divorced and with children.

The plaintiff testified that the publication devastated her life, saying it felt as if “the soul left the body” and “as if I was shot.” She said she stopped inviting friends, cut off contact with some of them, and did not return to school regularly. She also said she felt hurt and humiliated by students and teachers who blamed her for suing, and that the false rumor could damage her chances of marriage because it might come up in shidduch discussions with teachers and friends.

The defendants argued it was just a “prank” meant to entertain friends, inspired by a television series. The judge rejected that defense, saying the law offers no protection for that kind of defamation. He noted that even though only a limited number of students saw the posts, the rumor reached teachers and caused real turmoil at school. Lang also criticized the girls for failing to apologize after the victim asked them to, and dismissed claims that the school was responsible for allowing smartphones, saying only the students who published the material were liable.