Black Cube v Keshet
| Black Cube v Keshet
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Libel action in the High Court of England and Wales |
| Date | June 2019 – November 2020 |
| Location | London (Royal Courts of Justice, Queen's Bench Division) |
| Participants | Claimant: BC Strategy UK Limited (B.C. Strategy UK Ltd, trading as Black Cube), represented by JMW Solicitors. Defendants: Keshet Broadcasting Limited, owner of Channel 12, and five journalists including Ilana Dayan, represented by Allen & Overy |
| Court | High Court, Queen's Bench Division (Mr Justice Saini) |
| Cause | The Uvda investigative series broadcast on Channel 12 in June 2019 |
| Outcome | Black Cube discontinued its £15 million claim on 16 November 2020 and was ordered on 17 November to make an interim payment of £350,000 towards the defendants' costs |
Black Cube v Keshet was a £15 million libel claim brought in London in 2019 by the Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube against the Israeli broadcaster Keshet and five journalists from its investigative programme Uvda, including the presenter Ilana Dayan. Black Cube dropped the claim in November 2020, saying its income had risen since the broadcast, and the High Court ordered it to pay £350,000 towards the broadcaster's costs.
The broadcasts
In June 2019 Uvda (Channel 12) broadcast a series of reports on Black Cube.[1][2]
| # | Allegation | Response | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The tycoon Idan Ofer hired Black Cube in 2014 to look for damaging material on the then finance minister Yair Lapid and other officials involved in natural-gas tax policy | Ofer's spokesman confirmed a brief contract but said the material came from public sources and was not used. Black Cube said it never met Ofer or targeted politicians, judges or regulators | [1][3] |
| 2 | Black Cube spied on opponents of Congolese president Joseph Kabila in 2015–16 ("Operation Coltan") | Black Cube denied any activity in the DRC | [2][4] |
| 3 | The telecoms group Bezeq used Black Cube agents in 2014 to try to discredit a consultancy hired by the Communications Ministry, at a meeting at the Dorchester Hotel in London, and so derail the wholesale market reform | Bezeq did not deny the report but said such behaviour belonged to a different time. Black Cube said it "was never hired to torpedo any reforms" | [1] |
| 4 | An unnamed business figure hired Black Cube against the businesswoman Ofra Strauss. Documents spoke of finding "further possible leverage points" | Uvda said it was unclear whether Black Cube acted. Sources close to Strauss said she was angered but not surprised | [1] |
The claim
Black Cube said it was suing the programme and its anchor in the High Court in London for £15 million ($19 million), and a court clerk confirmed that a claim had been filed. Dayan called the lawsuit an attempt to "silence" her.[1] According to earlier reports, Black Cube's lawyers had argued that England and Wales was the right forum because one of its founders and many of its clients were based in the UK.[5] Congolese opposition figures hoped the case would bring out more detail of the alleged surveillance in the DRC.[6]
Discontinuance and costs
On 16 November 2020 Black Cube filed to discontinue its claim. On 17 November Mr Justice Saini ordered BC Strategy UK Limited to make an interim payment of £350,000 towards the costs of Keshet Broadcasting Limited and the five journalists.[5][7][8] A Black Cube spokesperson said:
"The company has been advised that since its income in the year following the broadcast has increased, the argument that the company has suffered financial loss because of the broadcast has fallen away. The company continues to state that the broadcast was wrong and seriously misleading and always acts strictly according to the law in every jurisdiction in which it operates."[5]
The Guardian reported the case alongside an open letter from press-freedom groups warning of a "growing trend to use strategic litigation against public participation (Slapp) lawsuits as a means of intimidating and silencing journalists".[5]
Sourcing note
Coverage of the case itself is limited to reporting of the claim in June 2019 and of the discontinuance in November 2020. No judgment on the merits was given.
See also
- Black Cube
- Black Cube in the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Black Cube and the Israeli state
- Idan Ofer
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 ToI Staff, Secretive Black Cube sues Israeli investigative journalist for $19 million, Times of Israel, 7 June 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Israeli '21st-century mercenaries' spied for DR Congo's Kabila, report says, France 24, 10 June 2019.
- ↑ Ora Coren, Israeli Tycoon Hired Spy Firm to Get Dirt on Finance Minister, Report Says, Haaretz, 4 June 2019 (subscription).
- ↑ RDC: le drôle de démenti de la société israélienne Black Cube, RFI, 11 June 2019.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Owen Bowcott, Intelligence firm Black Cube ordered to pay £350,000 to Israeli TV show, The Guardian, 25 November 2020.
- ↑ RDC: l'opposition alarmée par les révélations sur la surveillance sous Kabila, RFI, 10 June 2019.
- ↑ ToI Staff, Black Cube to pay Israeli TV network £350,000 after dropping UK libel suit, Times of Israel, 26 November 2020.
- ↑ Yonah Jeremy Bob, Court orders intel firm Black Cube to pay £350,000 to Israeli TV show, Jerusalem Post, 26 November 2020.