Selected litigation

This page lists selected matters in which Idan Moldavski acted as counsel, with links to published reports. Client names and case numbers are omitted to protect the people involved, and outcomes are stated only where they have been reported.

Belarusian protesters: interim status and refugee recognition (2026)

Idan Moldavski represented two Belarusian nationals who sought asylum in Israel after taking part in protests against the Lukashenko government. In May 2026 the Tel Aviv District Court ordered the State to grant them temporary resident status until their asylum claim was decided, finding that the Population and Immigration Authority had delayed the claim for years. In August 2026, more than four years after they applied, the Authority recognised them as refugees; Haaretz reported that this was the first time Israel had recognised Belarusian nationals as politically persecuted by their government.

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Ukrainian refugee held for a month without questioning (2026)

A Ukrainian refugee was detained at his workplace; within hours his visa was cancelled and he was told he would be removed. He was then held for a month on a suspicion of contact with "enemies of Israel", without being questioned. Idan Moldavski represented him, and the matter reached the Supreme Court. After the State asked to strike the proceeding, the Supreme Court remarked that the Authority's conduct in the case "raises questions".

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Wife and son of an Israeli citizen refused entry on arrival from Russia (2022)

The wife and son of an Israeli citizen, who came with him from Russia in the autumn of 2022 amid the mass mobilisation there, were refused entry and removed because they were not registered as his relatives in the Population Registry. Idan Moldavski represented them before the Appeals Tribunal. On 7 October 2022 the tribunal ruled that they could enter Israel subject to a bond.

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Ukrainian family refused entry at Ben Gurion Airport (2022)

In March 2022 a family that had fled the war in Ukraine, together with a 17-year-old girl in the family's care, was refused entry at Ben Gurion Airport, and the authorities examined a suspicion of human trafficking concerning the girl. Idan Moldavski represented the family in the appeal against the refusal and argued that the interpreter at the border interview had mistranslated what they said. The Times of Israel reported that the court hearing the appeal had ordered the family to remain in Israel until further decisions were made.

According to HaMakom, the parents were held for three days at the Yahalom facility until the police and the Ministry of Justice ruled out the trafficking suspicion. The family then asked the Civil Service Commission and the Minister of the Interior to suspend two border officials and, through Idan Moldavski, asked for the entry refusals in which those officials had taken part to be re-examined.

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Unaccompanied 15-year-old refused entry (2022)

In March 2022 a 15-year-old from Ukraine who landed alone at Ben Gurion Airport was refused entry. Idan Moldavski filed an appeal to the Appeals Tribunal on his behalf, arguing that he had been questioned by a border officer who is not authorised to question minors, without legal advice and without a guardian being appointed. In response, the Population and Immigration Authority agreed to admit him to Israel and asked for the appeal to be struck out.

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People fleeing Ukraine held at Ben Gurion Airport (2022)

In March 2022 Haaretz reported that people fleeing the war in Ukraine were waiting at Ben Gurion Airport for days, with no place to shower or lie down, and that Population and Immigration Authority officials were quick to order their removal. At the time, Idan Moldavski represented people fleeing Ukraine who had been refused entry at the airport.

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Eritrean clergyman summoned to the Holot facility (2015)

A senior clergyman of the Eritrean Orthodox Church in Israel, who had fled Eritrea in 2010, was summoned to the Holot facility and sought an exemption on the ground of his religious role. Idan Moldavski and another attorney represented him through HIAS Israel, in proceedings that included the Tel Aviv District Court. The report was published while the proceedings were pending and does not state their outcome.

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Other matters

Selected matters outside immigration and refugee law.

Detention without suspicion, including at Sde Teiman (2025)

In August 2025 the army detained a Palestinian resident of the West Bank with a heart condition at his home and held him for four days, two of them at the Sde Teiman facility, with no suspicion against him and no request for his detention. Idan Moldavski represented him in a petition to the High Court of Justice. After the petition was filed and Haaretz approached the IDF Spokesperson, he was released, and the army told the High Court that he had been "brought to detention without a request from any investigative body".

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Defamation claim over a shared post (2024)

A newspaper columnist sued several defendants for defamation over a false quotation from his column, first posted on social media by a journalist and later echoed in a post that a public figure shared. The public figure issued a third-party notice against the journalist. Idan Moldavski represents the journalist, who filed a defence to the third-party notice arguing that he bears no responsibility for the public figure's decision to share the post, and applied for the public figure to deposit security for costs. The report covers the pleadings and does not state an outcome.

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Lawyer–client privilege and a client’s address (2023)

At the request of a Population and Immigration Authority lawyer, the Appeals Tribunal ordered Idan Moldavski to give it the address of a former client who was apparently staying in Israel unlawfully, although he had told the tribunal that he did not know the client's current address. On his application, the ethics committee of the Israel Bar's Tel Aviv District decided that a client's address or telephone number is covered by lawyer–client privilege where disclosing it could lead to harm to the client's liberty, and that a request for such details by a lawyer representing a public authority is conduct unbecoming the profession. The committee said it would join any administrative petition against the tribunal's decision.

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Claim over a Tel Aviv apartment renovation (2021)

Idan Moldavski was one of three attorneys for the plaintiffs in a claim for about ₪59.5 million filed in the Tel Aviv District Court against an architect and a construction supervisor. The plaintiffs allege that renovation works on their Tel Aviv apartment were carried out without a building permit and that they had to sell the apartment at a loss; they also ask the court to set aside an earlier judgment that approved a settlement. The architect denied any negligence. The report covers the filing and does not state an outcome.

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Media reports

Published reports on matters in which the office acted or commented.

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