The brief arrest on Saturday of Lebanese-Syrian journalist and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of NOW Lebanon news website Alia Mansour, after a fake account made in her name interacted with an Israeli journalist on X, has rekindled the debate around the legal risks involved in this type of exchange.

Although there has been no prosecution, several cases flourished on social media in this regard. On Oct. 20, for instance, the account manager of the Arab Unitarian Party leader and former minister Wiam Wahhab replied from his account to a post by Israeli journalist Edy Cohen, in which Cohen described the former minister as “corrupt” and an “upstart,” claiming that Hezbollah paid him “monthly sums.” The account manager replied, “Tomorrow, two men from Galilee will go to Tel Aviv. On the fifth floor of where you live, they’ll teach you a lesson!”

L’Orient-Le Jour spoke to a number of judges and legal experts to learn whether, in accordance with the law, a Lebanese national interacting with Israeli accounts on social media can be convicted of collaborating with Israel.

A judge at the military prosecutor’s office clearly said, “Whatever the content of a message addressed to an Israeli, the author of that message may be prosecuted, whether it is in favor of or against Israel ... You can’t address the enemy directly.”

“You must neither share nor retweet a comment from an Israeli,” added the judge.

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Moreover, a colleague of the judge referred to the Anti-Israel boycott Law. Article 1 of the law stipulates, “It is prohibited for any natural or legal person to conclude, personally or through an intermediary, an agreement with organizations or persons residing in Israel or holding Israeli citizenship, or to work on their behalf or in their interest, when the purpose of this agreement involves commercial or financial operations, or any other transaction, of any nature whatsoever.”

The law, which was passed in 1955, points to “any communication,” the above-mentioned judge said, and noted that if the law did not provide for interactions on social media, it is because social media did not exist at the time.

“Why get into trouble by venturing into any kind of relationship with an enemy country?” he asked and recommended that people refrain from “following” any particular Israeli profile on social media. He added, however, that other judges might have a different opinion. Hence, the litigious cases would be subject to the jurisprudence of each judge.

‘No crime without law’

Constitution expert Said Malek said that “in the absence of precise texts,” it is up to the judges in charge of examining such acts to decide whether or not they constitute a “crime.”

According to Malek, “Although the Constitution stipulates that every citizen has an obligation to respect national sovereignty, and the Penal Code incriminates any Lebanese who collaborates with the enemy, these texts make no specific mention of the digital development-linked acts.”

“There can be no crime without a law,” said Malek, who recommended that the government drafts a bill or that Parliament prepares a draft law “to properly address the issue.” Such a law would serve as “limits” to interpretative judgments.

In the wait for this “loophole” to be resolved, the laws in force, customs and practices impose “a restrictive practice as regard to relations with Israelis,” according to a lawyer who declined to be named. “Any direct contact with Israeli public officials or private individuals is prohibited,” he said and pointed out that Lebanon does not recognize Israeli statehood.

The lawyer said that the problem of interaction is not confined to social media, and added that the issue is also delicate for delegations’ members taking part in international conferences and competitions, be they academic, cultural or sporting.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. It was translated by Joelle El-Khoury