The Jerusalem District Court on Sunday 8 Kislev ruled Yad Sarah will have to pay Mordechai Peretz Kirschenbaum 33,577.512 shekels. The payment dates back to the 2007 deal in which the tzedaka organization sold its plot of land at 70 Yirmiyahu Street to Kirschenbaum for $6,500,000. The deal was actually signed two years later, in 2009.

The agreement had many stipulations including the buyer was guaranteed there were no third party claims on the plot of land and that if the deal was canceled, a $650,000 penalty would be paid.

As Kirschenbaum was planning how the lot was going to be designed, already in 2010, he learned Yad Sarah granted right to the Elbaum family that significantly infringed on his plans for the plot of land. The Elbaum family own the adjoining plot. Kirschenbaum maintained he loses a number of meters on some of the borders of the land purchased. In 2011 Kirschenbaum sent notification to Yad Sarah that the deal was null and void since he was misled. Yad Sarah rejected his allegation, stating there are no third party claims to the plot in question. Kirschenbaum remained adamant, demanding to cancel the deal. He explained had he or anyone known about the Elbaum family claim he or another buyer would have rejected the deal.

Kirschenbaum took his case to court seeking to invalidate the deal. The court on Sunday ruled that Yad Sarah must pay 33,577,512 shekels in addition to accumulated interest and linkage, which amount to 2,825,334 in interest. In addition, Yad Sarah must pay 1,180,000 shekels in legal fees for Kirschenbaum.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)