A Small Claims Court in Bat Yam has ordered left-wing activist Boaz Drori to pay NIS 5,000 in damages to Shlomo Baruch Yered, a teenage shepherd from the Ma'aleh Tzidhar outpost in Gush Etzion, after ruling that he defamed the minor in a post on X.
According to the ruling, Drori shared a video in October 2025 showing Yered leaning over a water well. The lawsuit, filed with the assistance of the Honenu legal aid organization, stated that the footage documented an attempt to rescue a baby goat that had fallen into the well.
However, Drori's post claimed that "Jewish settlers are polluting Palestinian water wells in the occupied West Bank," and described the incident as part of an "organized wave of attacks."
During the hearing, Drori argued that he shared the post to encourage public discourse about Israel's image abroad and that he did not know the minor's identity. He also claimed that the goat's fall had contaminated the water and therefore his description of the outcome was accurate.
The judge rejected those arguments, ruling that there is a fundamental difference between accidental contamination caused while rescuing an animal and accusing someone of deliberately poisoning wells as part of an "organized wave of attacks." The court also rejected the defenses of "truthful publication" and that Drori acted innocently and in good faith.
In the ruling, the judge noted that the fact Drori did not know the minor's name did not change the fact that he knew the person in the video existed and that he linked him to a serious allegation. She also added that he should have taken into account the fact that the boy could be identified by family members and acquaintances.
Honenu's Tom Nisani, who assisted the family in filing the lawsuit, said, "Those who refuse to learn the easy way not to slander and spread defamatory falsehoods about the courageous shepherds of Judea and Samaria will learn it the hard way - they will learn, and they will pay."