The lawsuit was filed after he refused to apologize and pay compensation. Meanwhile, he blocked a journalist in violation of the Supreme Court ruling.

The 'Maakav' editorial team has exposed a serious incident in which the Deputy Mayor of Nof HaGalil, Mr. David Shinan, publicly humiliated community activist Maxim Plastun in a Facebook group with over 8,500 members.

"You've become someone everyone laughs at", wrote the Deputy Mayor in a post that sparked outrage in the "Nof HaGalil – The Central Group." Shinan didn't stop there and continued with a series of personal attacks, including invading Plastun's privacy regarding his military service.

We documented an incident where Mr. Shinan implied that Plastun was impersonating Nikita – a claim which Plastun categorically denies. Moreover, the Deputy Mayor, who is not authorized to act as a recruitment office, took the liberty of disclosing personal information about Plastun's military service, who was released from IDF service due to health reasons.

We are publishing the post verbatim, without changes:

"A response I sent to a fictitious user named 'Nikita' who published lies in my name, claiming that I'm trying to work towards dismissing coalition members: Maxim, haven't you realized yet that you've become someone everyone in the city laughs at?

You and your operator, who by the way also laughs at you because you're the only one serving him. Maybe before anything else, explain why you weren't called up for reserve duty during the war? Why don't you volunteer anywhere? You're trying to create conflict between me and council members, you'll never succeed just as you've never succeeded at anything. Can you tell us about your achievements in life? What are you actually capable of doing besides sitting at home writing posts and comments?

Notice where you've ended up and where I am. Learn something in life, there's nothing more humiliating than being laughed at, and everyone laughs at you. It's very unfortunate that you and several other residents (and other fictitious names, like Yarin, Nikita, and others) instead of helping advance the city, only blacken, smear, and damage its good reputation.

Shame on you. We, all coalition members, will continue working 24/7 for the city and its residents. And you'll continue writing on Facebook. David Shinan, Deputy Mayor."

Shinan's offensive post reveals a disturbing picture of an elected official using his position to harm a resident. "You're trying to create conflict between me and council members," wrote Shinan, "you'll never succeed just as you've never succeeded at anything. Can you tell us about your achievements in life? What are you actually capable of doing besides sitting at home writing posts and comments?".

Why does an elected official holding a high position allow himself to express such blatant contempt towards a tax-paying city resident? Where did he derive the authority to humiliate a resident and publish childish mockery unworthy of his position?

It appears that Mr. Shinan presumes to serve as the humor supervisor in Nof HaGalil, while taking the liberty to publicly humiliate a tax-paying resident – going so far as to define a community activist as a 'joke'.

Furthermore, Mr. Shinan violated Mr. Plastun's privacy by revealing, without any authority or permission, details about his non-participation in reserve duty. It should be noted that the Deputy Mayor is not authorized as a recruitment office or IDF representative. Mr. Plastun did indeed enlist in the IDF and was released for health reasons, and following the disclosure of this information, he was forced to deal with invasive questions from the public on this personal matter.

Additionally, Mr. Shinan's erroneous claim that Mr. Plastun doesn't volunteer is a distortion of the truth, as it is known that the latter works voluntarily as a community activist and exposes important public issues in the city. However, even if this claim were true – where is it established that volunteering is a condition for worthy citizenship? Is a volunteering citizen superior to their neighbor? We are not aware of any mandatory volunteering requirement in the State of Israel.

It raises questions about how an elected official dares to express himself in such a manner. Does the Deputy Mayor maintain a registry of volunteering residents, whom he considers first-class citizens? And what about his supporters who don't volunteer?

Residents Criticize the Deputy Mayor

The residents didn't remain indifferent. "Do the city inspectors and municipal police have any specific role in the city besides issuing fines and causing people to flee the city?", wrote Ravid Feigerson in response. "Have you seen the many broken speed bumps in the city? Dear Deputy Mayor, what has happened to the city in the last 10 years? Sharet School was full! Today? One building that's half empty!".

Yuval Adri added: "Maxim is an outstanding person and does a lot for Jews who remained in the city, unlike you and some others from the municipality. Instead of coming with complaints to a citizen and resident of the city, maybe come with complaints to your big boss? Who commits a criminal offense by calling people on their private phones? Who blocks people on public Facebook, which violates freedom of speech!".

Evgeny Grinberg raised a series of deficiencies in city management: "All roads in the city are broken, and where they're not, there are speed bumps that don't meet any standards! Serious delay in the 'HaNofit' project, crime is reaching new heights. They imposed a security tax and in practice are cutting inspector working hours! The city park is still closed".

Clarification: The comments written in this post were documented at the time of their publication in the public group. As part of the journalistic investigation, we approached the Deputy Mayor for his response to the allegations raised, but he chose to refrain from responding. It should be noted that the use of comments does not require permission, as they were originally published in the public domain.

Following the offensive publication, attorney Yehoshua Rubin sent Shinan a warning letter demanding monetary compensation. As the letter went unanswered, a defamation lawsuit was filed for one hundred and thirty thousand new shekels.

Review of the lawsuit reveals that the Deputy Mayor damaged the reputation of the city resident, Mr. Maxim Plastun. The lawsuit is accompanied by evidence, appendices, and a solid factual basis, demonstrating the damage to Mr. Plastun's reputation. The lawsuit also claims that the Deputy Mayor will not be able to use the defense of 'I spoke the truth', as his offensive publications constitute defamation. Since the statement of defense has not yet been filed, we are unable to quote from it.

We approached Mr. Shinan for his response, but he refused to answer and even blocked our access to him. Additionally, a written inquiry sent to the Deputy Mayor went unanswered. It should be noted that there is an unequivocal ruling by the Supreme Court of Israel prohibiting elected officials from blocking the public, including prohibiting the blocking of a journalist seeking to bring truth to public attention. In this, the Deputy Mayor committed another violation.

Moreover, the Nof HaGalil municipality spokesperson's office, funded with hundreds of thousands of shekels from public funds to serve as a communication channel with the media, received our inquiry but chose not to respond to it. This is further evidence of improper conduct by the municipal department, where the pattern of silence raises questions about a possible attempt at concealment.

It is disappointing to discover that in Nof HaGalil, the laws of the State of Israel, at least those concerning transparency, providing responses, presenting positions, and implementing Supreme Court decisions, appear to be viewed merely as recommendations. However, it is interesting to note that the laws concerning the receipt of public funds are fully implemented – a real absurdity.

It should be emphasized that in my role as a journalist, I am not authorized to decide legal questions. The task of examining and deciding on issues of defamation, damage to reputation, and damage assessment is entrusted to the court. We have documented the case and will continue to cover the legal proceedings, which are open to the general public.

It is appropriate for city residents to attend the courtroom, to learn about the circumstances of the lawsuit against the Deputy Mayor, to hear his position, and to stay updated on the verdict when it comes.

We will continue to follow and report on the legal proceedings from beginning to end.

Photo from Deputy Mayor David Shinan's Facebook page