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Lately both employers and employees are faced with unique dilemmas while trying to preserve work relations and business continuity and struggling with harsh social and political reality. The discussions over the social networks have become in recent weeks even more aggressive than during the last four rounds of general election for the Knneset (our parliament). What should we allow to write on a workplace WhatsApp group? Can an employer dismiss an employee for expressing his/her opinion on the social media network? Please read the interview our Partner Mr. Eliran Strichman heading our litigation department and associate lawyer Ms. Or Goldschmidt expert on labour law, gave to Calcalist recently.

An extraordinary achievement for the planning and building department in our office! The Appeals Committee for Compensation and Betterment Levies in the Jerusalem District accepted the appeal filed by Adv. Tomer Gur, a partner in our firm, stating that the Jerusalem Municipality will not be able to collect improvement levies from properties bordering the light rail route. The reasoning: "In the case of public infrastructure, the enrichment is that of the general public. The betterment levy of the borderers will lead to inequality and deoration, and the border will pay in multiplication." This means a significant reduction in the ability of local authorities to collect improvement levies from properties bordering the light rail.

Nobody likes to pay property taxes, but everyone understands why it's necessary. However, it's still hard to understand the chaos surrounding the municipal taxes - from the rates and measurement methods of municipalities to the exemptions granted - and that's regardless of the coronavirus... Adv. Ravit Baram-Mazor, partner and head of municipal taxation at our firm, was interviewed by Globes and gave 7 rules to help you check that you did not overpay. Enriching reading

Were you happy with the discounted prices at “Rami Levi” supermarkets? Well, you should know that according to what a farmer from the village of Kadesh Barnea in the Negev Desert says this discount was on his account! We claim in a lawsuit that we submitted to court recently, that this giant supermarket chain pays regularly for a smaller quantity than the farmers supply. Many farmers complained that “the ‘erroneous’ calculation has become a source of income for the chain”. What does the supermarket chain response? They say “the truth will be revealed in a court of law.” We concur… Want to know more? Read the article that was published in Yediot Achronot daily newspaper and on YNET

In the past year, we have witnessed a significant change in courts and appeal committees' position in relation to the powers of local planning and construction committees. The main change focuses on reducing their authority to determine, within the framework of policy documents or within internal guidelines, provisions that significantly restrict proprietary rights. Advs. Yuval Gal-On and Salam Hamed, partners at our firm who specialize in planning and construction, explain why the change in trend in the courts marks a stop sign for the "policy documents" of the local committee in Tel Aviv – an instrument through which the committee strives to authorize actions that normally should have been adopted through a detailed plan only. Read more at Calcalist:

The city of Netivot will expand. The Supreme Court accepted the appeal of Netivot Municipality, the National Committee for Planning and Building of Preferred Residential Complexes (CPRC), and the Israel Land Authority. It overturned the District Court ruling to revoke Netivot's expansion plan to construct 1728 housing units on land partly owned by Sdot Negev Regional Council. Congratulations to Adv. Ron Tzin, a senior partner at our firm, and Adv. Shelly Lev-Sherman, who represented Netivot Municipality in the successful proceeding. Read the article in Globes.

Another significant achievement for the planning and construction department at our firm: The Tel Aviv District Committee for planning and construction has recently rejected a plan to build new housing units on the solarium floor of the iconic Dizengoff Tower, which would have created severe aesthetic damage to the tower's unique appearance, as well as a serious safety hazard. Want to know how Adv. Yuval Gal-on and Adv. Alina Schechter persuaded the district committee to cancel the plan? Read the article published in the Globes real estate supplement.

We are honored to share with you an extensive interview published in TheMarker Real Estate Supplement with Adv. Yuval Gal-on, a partner at our firm. In the interview, which was held pursuant to the notable achievement of canceling the tender for the sale of Kikar Atarim parking lot, Yuval turns the spotlight on several issues he identified as problematic in the planning and construction system in Israel, including local committee policy documents as an alternative to City Building Plan; The use of amorphous valve concepts that increase the uncertainty of entrepreneurs; the length of licensing procedures; the chaotic climate in which entrepreneurs are forced to operate and more.

Another year has passed (this time - maybe it's for the best), Globes has gathered the significant rulings that 'made the passing legal year'. Adv. Yuval Gal-On, a senior partner at our firm, marked the principle ruling in the "Dali Dalia" case, in which the Supreme Court dealt with the question of when an injury to the planning potential of land will be recognized? And if one is recognized as such - should the planning potential that existed before the new plan be considered? Curious to know more?

Tishrei Holidays are always a difficult time, both for employers and employees, and this year the Coronavirus is joining. Will employees' rights be preserved during the pandemic? And what about a concentrated leave for employees who have already taken advantage of all their vacation days? Adv. Hadas Sagi, Director of the Labor Law Department at our firm, answers all those questions in an article published today in "Yedioth Ahronoth" and on the YNET website.

The supreme court rejected yesterday the Tel Aviv municipality's appeal against the district court's ruling of January 2018 and ruled: "A local authority seeking to sell the land it owns is obliged to hold a tender." In this proceeding, led by Adv. Yuval Gal-On, a senior partner at our firm, for the past three years, our firm has represented the opponents of the agreement signed by the municipality with a group of private developers for the sale of the parking lot in Atarim Square - one of the most well-known and historic sites in Tel Aviv. While opponents argued that the municipality was obliged to hold a public and open tender - the municipality relied on a settlement agreement it signed with the developers. According to Adv. Gal-on: "The decision emphasizes that local authorities must prefer the public interest, which is best expressed in the tenders law when they come to trad the land they own, even when they see before them a strong urgency in completing sale procedures to private entities."

Our firm is proud to have represented PulseNmore in its multi-year agreement with Clalit Health Services, one of the largest public Healthcare Maintenance Organizations (HMO) in the world, to be the first HMO in the world to purchase and integrate within its operation the handheld ultrasound device developed by PulseNmore that enables pregnant women to perform at-home ultrasound scans and receive feedback from a physician or sonographer, limiting the need for hospital and doctor visits during COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. We would like to thank the SBGTW's team representing PulseNmore: Advs. Gideon Levit, Lital Barsheshet Peri, and Shir Savyon.

We are pleased to announce of another successful “Startup Investor Pitch & Networking” event this year, the second in a series of events initiated by our firm as a unique format tailored for early stage startups utilizing deep tech, in need or actively looking for early stage financing from venture capital investors. The event, which was hosted by “Sea-Gal” Israel's Yachting Club in Herzliya, focused on ventures that develop technologies in the fields of sustainability, agro-tech, energy, smart cities, and more. We have carefully elected 14 startups out of dozens, to attended the event and pitch to a panel of 10 high-profile venture capital investors (mainly venture capital funds), aiming to close an investment deal. We hope that the event, which attracted great interest, will indeed yield investments and engagements. Needless to say, that we are extremely proud to have managed producing and safely hosting an offline event at the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. It is therefore greatly appreciated. At this opportunity we would like to thank once more to our partner Adv. Gideon Levit, on the initiative and who made it all happen.

If Dun & Bradstreet determined, who are we at SBGTW to argue? Our firm is ranked once again this year as one of Israel's known and leading firms in administrative law and municipal taxation. Frankly, this is not so surprising ... Highest gratitude and appreciation to our dear clients and dedicated employees whose professional work and devotion are admirable!

the entry of Avi Nissenkorn, the new Minister of Justice, into his office, has encountered many challenges. With so many important tasks on the agenda, shaded by COVID-19 outbreak, Adv. Roee Hecht, a partner and head of our firm's real estate department, offers the new minister to streamline the work of Land Registration Offices by "deepening the accessibility of online services in all possible areas involved in registering real estate transactions."

The Minister of Construction and Housing, Yaakov Litzman, announced This week the main steps in his housing policy, including: subsidizing tenders for affordable housing land, loans to purchase apartments in the periphery, reducing the bureaucracy of Israel Land Authority and cancellation of the Buyer's Price (Mechir Lemishtaken) program. Adv. Roee Hecht, partner and head of the real estate department at our firm, says that "a method in which land in the central areas is highly-priced, distances young and vibrant populations from the center of the country, and perpetuates the demographic and socioeconomic status of disadvantaged residential neighborhoods."

Somewhere in 2007, when members of a local planning and building committee held a hearing while sitting in bus - the appeals committee overturned their decision because it perceived the hearing as "a disgrace to the committee's deliberations and a serious violation of proper administration and public trust" >> 13 years later along with that COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, it is public trust that forces us all to “get out of the box”, abandon old habits and adopt new ones. Read the article by Salam Hamed, a partner at our firm.

The Tel Aviv District Court ruled: the reasoning regarding personal debts incurred by tenants of certain project is irrelevant for claiming additional housing units within the framework of the National Outline Plan (TAMA) 38 project. The law entitles local committees with a discretion as to the scope of incentives that can be granted in TAMA 38 for the purpose of strengthening building’s structure. Advs. Salam Hamed and Tomer Reinich from our firm represented the local planning and building committee in Givatayim, which opposed the addition of the required housing units and claimed that it significantly deviated from its planning policy based on economic and appraisal considerations.

Did the people of Israel obtain building permits for the pyramids they built in Egypt thousands of years ago? Probably not! So why building permits are required today? Well, it has been a matter of bureaucracy, regulation, and a lot of money involved. Is it possible otherwise? According to Advs. Yuval Gal-On and Dan Or, partners at our firm who specialize in planning and construction, exceptional times, require exceptional solutions - the answer is affirmative and lies in the mechanism of "self-building licensing". According to Advs. Gal-On and Or, "This is an amazing instrument for accelerating construction, through which a private architect performs the required examinations and assumes the responsibility for the building permit application he signed to the extant it is worthy of approval." You are already raising eyebrows and wondering - how?

If 1 + 1 = 2, would 1+1 equal 11? While you are trying to solve the riddle, read the article published in Calcalist written by our partner, Adv. Yuval Gal-On, demonstrating how legal creativity can allow the construction of an extra new and complete room to your existing house, without the need to obtain a building permit.

While the corona outbreak continues to rage, legal proceedings continue. Advs. Yuval Gal-On and Shelly Lev Sherman from our firm recently filed a petition against the Gezer Regional Council, claiming that Kibbutz Naan approved the operation of an invalid site in violation of the law and the field plan. It was further argued that "the prohibited waste may lead to an environmental hazard and an impairment the ability to return the land to agricultural use."

Towards the general lockdown: The presidency of the business sector, represented by our partner Adv. Eliran Streichman, recently sent a letter to the Prime Minister, the Attorney General, and the Ministries of Finance, Economy, and Health in which it claims that "restricting movement in all localities in the country, including where the outbreak of the coronavirus is not seriously present, and without being recommended by the health authorities for closure- it is not for a worthy purpose, and therefore - improper." According to the presidency, the essence of the decision is "virtually shutting down all business and Israel’s factory activity sector , because employees will not be able to get to work, even in factories regarded as essential."

Just as the State of Israel has undertaken to import eggs for supply ”from one day to the next”, to overcome the shortage, it must equally prevent the importation of agricultural products in the absence of shortage. Nutritional independence is required in peacetime to prevail in times of war – so claimed by Adv. Eliran Streichman, a partner at our firm that specializes in the agricultural sector, in Calcalist.

Three real estate companies joined forces to submit an offer in response to call for tenders for the construction of 148 housing units in Bat Yam. After withdrawing from the offer, the receiver of the lot decided to foreclose the guarantees in the amount of NIS 33 million that the companies provided for participation in the tender. Adv. Roee Hecht, a partner and head of the real estate department at our firm, explains to DeMarker the complicated situation and the mistakes made by the companies.

Would you like to know how the City of Jerusalem tried to annex an area outside of its urban grounds? And why the district court did not see it favorably? Read in Globes an article by Adv. Lital Barsheshet, a partner in our firm who specializes, among other things, in municipal taxation

Congrats to ZutaCore for winning SilicoNegev 2019 competition, led and sponsored by MATA- Future Technologies Center (a non-profitable association), established to support and encourage entrepreneurship in the Negev. The winner is a startup company based in Sderot which revolutionized the market with its unique cooling solution for servers and data centers. Adv. Gideon Levit, a partner in our law firm, is proud to accompany and advice MTA in its latest equity investment in ZutaCore. Good Luck!

Dear clients and friends, We are proud and pleased to announce that Adv. Gideon Levit has recently joined our firm as a partner. Gideon, who until recently was a partner in a highly-esteemed law firm, is a leading commercial lawyer with 20 years of professional experience in accompanying and representing companies operating in a variety of sectors and industries, including the venture capital and the high-tech industry. The joining of Gideon as one of partners will help strengthen the commercial department of our law firm primarily by offering his corporate experience and expertise to clients (local and foreign) operating in the Israeli tech ecosystem. If you are interested in learning more about Gideon's activities kindly click on the link: https://bit.ly/2SHLu0W We congratulate Gideon on joining us and we are confident that he will find a suitable professional home with us and that our clients will benefit from his experience and legal service. We would like to remind that our commercial department has accompanied a long list of leading commercial companies in various fields of activity, and has taken part recently in several outstanding and challenging transactions: SBGTW represented the international group Mitrelli in a range of international transactions, as well as the Weiss Group in a merger which created the largest tire dealer in Israel. Our law firm handled the sale of FCB to ONE1 group, and represented Menorah Insurance in IDB Group's insolvency proceedings. In addition, we successfully represented senior businessmen in the struggle for the establishment of the Israel-Angola Chamber of Commerce. Our firm provides ongoing legal services to Alliance Tire company; represents the Beit Berl Academic College in all of its divers legal matters; represents ICL Group companies in commercial transactions and litigation; advises the board of directors of the public company Amir Agriculture, and many others. We will be happy to continue providing you with our experience, knowledge and personal service.

A new arbitration ruling made in Cairo has found that EMG (Eastern Mediterranean Gas) is entitled to $1.033 billion in compensation, plus interest. The ruling comes less than a year after the same arbitrator found that the Egyptian gas companies had illegally canceled their agreement with EMG. Now, EMG creditors are pondering how to collect the enormous amount awarded in the arbitration, and what the chances are of actually getting any money from it. According to Amir Witkon, senior partner in our firm who specializes in international litigation and arbitration, "If EMG manages to locate assets belonging to the gas companies that are not in Egypt, the chances of the award being implemented will increase significantly." See Witkon's interview at Globes:

Enclosed is a Calcalist article about the motion to amend a statement of claim, filed by Adv. Eliran Strichman, a partner in our firm, on behalf of farmers from northern Israel who suffered damages due to the impairment of their electrical supply, in the winter of 2013. Originally, the claim was filed on behalf of 132 farmers. However, over the recent months – and especially after the previous publications about this case – 170 additional farmers were added to the claim. Hence, the motion to amend was filed and a follow-up in the media was carried out.

Enclosed is a Globes article concerning a new tax that was issued by municipal authorities across Israel over the recent years, and which has so far garnered millions of NIS, annually, in earnings acquired through this illegal tax. Adv. Ravit Baram-Mazor, a partner in our firm who had previously written about this subject, has given an interview which has been prominently featured in Globes magazine.

Think before doing: a business owner from Eilat which had filed a motion to certify a class action against the city of Eilat, was ordered to pay 22,000 NIS in legal fees, after all her claims were rejected by the district court. Despite the decisive ruling of the court that: “the city is entitled to repair public hazards and impose the fees on the property owners”, the plaintiff appealed the ruling to the supreme court, where her claims were also rejected and she was ordered to pay an additional 20,000 NIS. Moreover, it was determined that the plaintiff was ineligible to file the claim as a class action. We wish to congratulate our partner, Adv. Ravit Baram-Mazor, who represented the City of Eilat in the proceedings. To read the full article:

Enclosed is a Globes article concerning the well reasoned ruling of the Tel-Aviv District court, which had accepted a petition filed by Adv. Yuval Gal-on – a senior partner in our firm, on behalf of a client of the firm, and cancelled the sale of Atarim Square to private entrepreneurs.

Attached for your perusal is a memorandum on the subject of the "COVID-19 Update – December 21, 2020" which we hope you will find to be of interest. You are welcome to contact our firm should you have any question or require any clarification regarding the contents of this circular.

We wish to inform you that the issue of paying employees for isolation leave has been resolved within the framework of the Economic Assistance Program Law (The Novel Coronavirus) (Temporary Provision) (Amendment No. 3), 5780-2020 (hereinafter: "the Law").

Attached for your perusal is a memorandum on the subject of the "Notice to Employee and Job Candidate (Terms of Employment, Selection Procedures and Recruitment) 5762- 2002" which we hope you will find to be of interest. You are welcome to contact our firm should you have any question or require any clarification regarding the contents of this circular.

Attached for your perusal is a memorandum on the subject of the "Precedent setting ruling of the Supreme Court regarding the VAT component in tender bids" which we hope you will find to be of interest. You are welcome to contact our firm should you have any question or require any clarification regarding the contents of this circular.

Attached for your perusal is a memorandum on the subject of "The Ministry of Environmental Protection's Industry Reporting Requirements Policy" which we hope you will find to be of interest. You are welcome to contact our firm should you have any question or require any clarification regarding the contents of this circular.

Attached for your perusal is a memorandum on the subject of "Silencing lawsuits and immunity from defamation regarding letters before action", which we hope you will find to be of interest. You are welcome to contact our firm should you have any question or require any clarification regarding the contents of this circular.

Attached for your perusal is a memorandum on the subject of "Suspension regarding invalidation of the Ministry of Health's automatic sick leave certificate"

Dear clients, our firm's municipal taxation department shall also be happy in the corona era to be at your disposal regarding subjects relating to payments to local authorities. Keep healthy!

The transition of the entire higher education system to distance learning and teaching, following the spread of the coronavirus, is presenting the system with complex challenges.

Taxpayers who wish to dispute their rates bill are often forced to ask which entity is authorized to hear their claims - the Municipal Property Tax Director and thereafter the Municipal Property Tax Appeal Committee within the framework of objection and appeal proceedings, or maybe the Administrative Affairs Court pursuant to an administrative petition?

The Payment Ethics Law, 5777-2017 ("the Law"), which is intended to regulate the maximum periods for paying suppliers for the sale of goods, provision of services or performance of work, came into force. The payment periods prescribed in the Law meet the standard specified in the European Union Directive in this regard and the principles applied by OECD countries.

A limitation of actions plea is a defense argument which is usually heard from the defendant, who seeks to block the plaintiff and repulse the claim.

On 25th April, "Earth Day" was celebrated in Israel. However, while once they asked us to turn off the light for an hour to mark the international event, this year has passed relatively quietly

The Disposal and Recycling of Tires Law 5767-2007 ("the Law") imposes an obligation on tire and vehicle importers to meet the annual used tire disposal and recycling targets specified therein and to report this to the Tire Recycling Supervisor ("The Supervisor").

Attached for your perusal is a memorandum on the subject of the "Report of the findings of the Privacy Protection Authority's broad review of the corporate personal information database storage and processing services sector" which we hope you will find to be of interest. You are welcome to contact our firm should you have any question or require any clarification regarding the contents of this circular.

In April, 2016, the Israel Securities Authority (the "ISA") approved a draft legislation, not yet in force, which will exempt "Small Corporations", as defined in Section 5c to the Securities Regulations (Periodic and Immediate Reports), 1970, from the requirement to submit quarterly reports for the first and third quarters.

The Israeli Committee for Compensation and Royalties, established under the Israeli Patents Law – 1967 (the “Committee”), rendered a groundbreaking ruling on May 4, 2014 that puts an end to a period of legal uncertainty existing from the breakthrough case of Actelis Networks vs. Yishai Ilani [February 3, 2010] related to the right of employees to benefit from compensation for service inventions...

Section 52 of the Israeli Securities Law- 1968 (the "Securities Law") prohibits forbidden use of inside information, as defined below, of companies whose securities are offered to the public, or traded on a stock exchange and are held by the public ("Insider Trading"). Underlying this prohibition is the principle of fairness and the desire to prevent parties with access to a Company or its information, from abusing their position in order to gain benefits, at the expense of the investors who do not have such access.

The world we live in is a world of brands. Almost every single company that seeks to penetrate the market or introduce to the market a new product undergoes a process of business "branding". During this process, the brand or the logo of the company is built so as to help consumers to identify the products or the services with the company that provides them.

A new legislative revision of the Israeli Companies Law which entered into force on February 6 2015, deals among other things with the procedure at the meetings of the Audit Committee of a Public Company. On August 6, 2014 Amendment No. 25 to the Companies Law 5759- 1999 (the "Amendment" and the "Law", respectively) was published in the Official Gazette.