The Haifa District Court gave an important decision explaining the criteria for ordering an ISP to disclose the identity of an end user who published dafamatory statements in talkbacks and forums. After last year's ruling of Justice Michal Agmon-Gonen of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court in the matter of John Doe, this is the most comprehensive judgment given on this subject by an Israeli court. The court deviated from the previous case law and held that in order to establish a motion to order an ISP to disclose the identity of a user, the plaintiff does not have to prove prima facie criminal liability and an intent to harm. However, the plaintiff is required to prove an "extra element" (besides a civil cause of action for libel) to support the motion for disclosure of identity. Such extra element can be influenced by the nature of the statement (i.e. more tendency to expose a user who hurt a private person rather than a political figure), good winning chances for the plaintiff, public interest in matters pertaining to the plaintiff and the pubilcation of the statements, the circumstances of the publication, the scope of damage caused to the plaintiff as a result of the defamatory statement, etc.

Following is a link to the judgment (in Hebrew).
http://info1.court.gov.il/Prod03/ManamHTML4.nsf/DFA2F4FBD9E84AF8422572C50055A811/$FILE/7BB5417FD8042A96422572BC0024068B.html?OpenElement