In recent weeks, dozens of citizens have received requests from lawyers on behalf of police officers demanding the removal of social media posts that include photographs of the policemen in question, as well as a demand for thousands of shekels in compensation, Haaretz correspondent Josh Breiner reported.
The posts were accompanied by accusations against the police for using violence against demonstrators during anti-judicial reform protests.
A resident of Tel Aviv uploaded a photo of Hadera station commander Deputy Chief Zohar Maslawi and wrote: "The choker from Hadera, Zohar Maslawi is the commander of the Hadera police. He is a violent, sadistic, and cruel man who beat, strangled, and cursed protesters for the glory of the Israel Police."
She received a letter from the lawyer representing the police demanding payment of NIS 50,000. The warning letter states that the words have no basis and that post constitutes defamation.
In addition, the photo of police officer Amir Ben Zvi of Tel Aviv police station was also published online with the caption: "It doesn't matter if you obey or resist, he pounds his fists. The writer of the post received a warning letter demanding payment of NIS 50,000.
According to the report, the police have begun to assist the officers and are directing their inquiries to a so-called "district shaming officer" and the police sometimes even help fund the lawsuits.
Attorney Yoni Giorno, who represents the police officers, stated that "hundreds of the commenters who wrote statements against police officers such as 'stupid policeman', 'Ben-Gvir's worthless policemen', 'violent police, etc.', were not prosecuted."