SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Liberty Counsel filed a petition to the California Supreme Court to stop a frivolous defamation case against the nonprofit outreach ministry Jews for Jesus that has been allowed to proceed by the lower state courts. 

In Amitay v. Jews for Jesus, alleged Orthodox Jewish teacher Ariel Amitay claims Jews for Jesus defamed him by posting a royalty free stock photo on its Facebook page even though the face was intentionally blurred and did not identify the person by using a pseudonymous caption. Amitay says the photo associated him with their Christian outreach ministry despite the caption making no such association. As a result, Amitay claims that the photo created such a false impression of him that it caused his employer to terminate him from his “dream” teaching job.  

Jews for Jesus argues the case should be dismissed under California’s anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) statute, where lawsuits cannot be used to intimidate or silence others from exercising their First Amendment rights, including religious outreach and expression. Jews for Jesus is appealing an appeals court decision, which partially determined Amitay’s claims had “minimal merit,” arguing the lower court’s review was overly “permissive” despite the strong unrebutted evidence showing Jews for Jesus never intended nor identified Amitay in its content. The petition urges the California Supreme Court to review and reverse the appeals court decision.

Specifically, the petition seeks to dismiss the case since civil courts cannot decide whether Amitay’s alleged association with a Christian ministry constitutes apostasy under Orthodox Jewish beliefs, and whether a resulting religious shunning is a legally recuperable injury. Liberty Counsel argues the case should be dismissed since courts lack “subject-matter jurisdiction” under the First Amendment to resolve defamation claims relying on internal religious disputes. 

Alternatively, Liberty Counsel also asks the California Supreme Court to review and clarify the “minimal merit” standard. According to the petition, the problem here arises when the lower court focused more on “minimal” evidence supporting Amitay rather than crediting unrebutted evidence from Jews for Jesus that they did not know, intend, or endorse Amitay, which negates his claims. Under a proper anti-SLAPP analysis, Amitay’s claims should have been dismissed as a matter of law since the sanitized social media posts lacked any reasonable false or defamatory intent or inference, noted the petition.  The petition asks the court to clarify how lower courts should credit unrebutted defense evidence that negates a claim, and whether a permissive standard or rigorous legal analysis should be used to ensure the anti-SLAPP statute operates as designed in protecting organizations from protracted litigation over First Amendment-protected speech.

Following the attacks on October 7, 2023, Jews for Jesus distributed Bibles to Israeli soldiers to provide comfort and support. On its Facebook page, Jews for Jesus used a stock photo of an Israeli soldier from a popular website that provides millions of stock photographs under a worldwide copyright license to download, modify, and use for free. Jews for Jesus blurred the face, never used Amitay’s name, and even used the pseudonymous name “Nachman” in the photo’s caption. Jews for Jesus had no prior knowledge of Amitay.

Amitay now says that person in the blurred photo was him, although he has presented no proof of where he saw the photo. Liberty Counsel has argued that holding Jews for Jesus liable for a religious community’s misunderstanding of the facts, and for its “overreaction” and “theological hostility” to a Christian ministry would be an improper remedy for a “regrettable” situation.

Amitay filed the lawsuit on Christmas Eve 2024 seeking no less than $5 million in punitive damages. Liberty Counsel’s motion to dismiss also requests attorney’s fees and costs against the plaintiff.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The appeals court did not resolve, as a matter of law, whether Jews for Jesus’ social media posts in their full context assert or imply a false statement of fact about Ariel Amitay. No reasonable interpretation of Jews for Jesus’ posts supports a defamation claim because they do not convey any defamatory statement about him personally. The posts were a part of a larger religious expression about giving Bibles to Israeli soldiers that did not in any way portray or identify anyone in support of its religious views. Amitay cannot use the courts for a baseless defamation lawsuit to punish or suppress legitimate speech and religious expression. These baseless claims need to be reconsidered, dismissed, and Amitay needs to be held responsible for bringing this frivolous lawsuit.”

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