An Israeli court has ruled that a person under the influence of drugs or alcohol cannot give valid consent to sexual activity in a landmark civil case involving a woman who was allegedly assaulted by her cousin during a 2018 family event.
The Lod District Court ordered the man to pay NIS 500,000 (approximately $135,000) in damages after finding that his cousin, then 18, was too intoxicated to consent when the incident occurred at a banquet hall in central Israel.
Judge Guy Shani determined that although there were no witnesses to what happened inside the restroom stall where the incident took place, the woman’s testimony and the available evidence clearly showed she was in no condition to give informed, voluntary consent.
“The question is whether the plaintiff’s perception of reality was impaired to the extent that she could not give free consent — and whether the defendant could and should have realized this,” Shani wrote. “My answer to both is yes.”
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Security footage showed the woman stumbling and disoriented as she followed her 33-year-old cousin into the men’s restroom after both had consumed alcohol and cannabis. They remained inside for 36 minutes. The man's wife later found them in the stall, where the woman was unconscious, foaming at the mouth and partially undressed.
The man claimed the sexual contact was consensual. The woman, however, testified that she remembered very little, felt unwell and tried to resist but lost consciousness. “Why would I want my first time to be with my cousin, who’s 15 years older than me?” she told the court.
The judge found her account credible and aligned with the physical and video evidence. He dismissed the cousin’s version as false and emphasized that accompanying someone to a private location does not constitute consent. “Whatever the reason she entered the stall, her condition prevented her from giving informed consent to sexual contact — and the defendant should have known that,” he wrote.
Although the case was investigated by police, the State Attorney’s Office twice closed the criminal investigation without indictment. The civil ruling was based on the same body of evidence gathered in the original probe.
“This ruling sets a critical precedent,” said attorney Roni Aloni-Sadovnik, who represented the woman. “It establishes clearly that consent cannot be given when someone is intoxicated or unconscious. Eight years of pursuing justice have finally brought a result — even if justice came too late.”