These Terms govern The State of Israel at thestateofisrael.com and its apps (the “Service”), operated by Chuppah LLC (“Chuppah”, “we” or “us”). By accepting these Terms when creating or using an account, subscribing or submitting content, you agree to them. Our Privacy Policy explains personal-information processing.
This document is authoritative in English. Translations provided elsewhere on the Site are for convenience only; in any conflict, the English text controls.
1. The Service
We are an independent publication, not a government service. Content is for general information and is not professional advice. External material and links do not imply endorsement or affiliation; third-party authors speak for themselves. Translations may differ from their originals. Requests to correct material factual errors follow our Corrections Policy.
2. Eligibility and accounts
You must be at least 13 to use the Service and at least 18, or the age of legal majority where you live, to create an account, subscribe or use interactive features. Minors may otherwise use the Service under a parent’s or guardian’s supervision. Parental-control information is available from Apple Screen Time and Google Family Link.
Provide accurate account information, protect your sign-in access and notify us of unauthorized use. You are responsible for activity you authorize through your account. Do not sell or transfer your account or give anyone else access to it. You may delete your account at any time.
3. Permitted use and ownership
We grant you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable license to use the Service for personal, noncommercial purposes in accordance with these Terms. Chuppah and its licensors retain their rights. Third-party material remains subject to its owners’ rights. If you send us ideas, suggestions or feedback, we may use them without payment or other obligation to you.
You may not misuse the Service, violate law or others’ rights, impersonate others, send spam or malicious code, compromise security, access restricted information, interfere with operation, or scrape, frame, redistribute or commercially exploit the Service without permission. Ordinary search-engine indexing consistent with our published crawler instructions is permitted; it does not grant reuse rights. Our expressly provided embedding functionality may be used as offered.
4. User content and moderation
You retain ownership of content you submit, including Voices articles, pictures, reels, GIFs and audio clips, comments and profile details. You grant us a worldwide, nonexclusive, royalty-free license, which we may sublicense to providers that help us operate the Service and to platforms where the Service shares it, to host, process, reproduce, adapt for presentation (including resizing pictures and removing their embedded data), excerpt, translate, display, distribute and promote it, with your display name, profile photo and About text, as needed to operate, provide and promote the Service, including in share images, link previews, alerts, emails, search results and our social media accounts. You consent to automatic translation, excerpts and formatting, and to our removing unlawful parts of your content or adding correction or context labels to it, and to the extent the law allows, you waive moral rights in these uses. Public display follows the feature and your chosen visibility; this license does not authorize us to publish private messages. It continues after deletion only as necessary for lawful retention, backups and copies previously distributed through the Service or shared under this license.
You are responsible for your content. You confirm that it is your own work or that you have the rights and permissions it needs, including any required consent from people identifiable in your pictures, and that what you present as fact is accurate to your knowledge. Use a name that does not mislead readers about who you are. Clearly disclose, in the content and in any post promoting it, any payment, gift or close connection related to it, such as an employer or client, including payment from us. We make payments only where U.S. sanctions law allows them. Publishing on the Service does not entitle you to payment; we pay writers only under a separate written agreement. Label pictures created or materially altered with AI or editing tools when they could be taken as real.
Do not submit unlawful, infringing, defamatory, threatening, hateful, sexually explicit, deceptive or abusive content, other people’s private information without authority, intimate images of anyone without their consent, sexualized depictions of minors, content that encourages or gives instructions for suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, or material supporting terrorism or unlawful violence. Quoting or showing hateful or terrorist material to report on, document or rebut it is allowed when the context makes that clear. Do not impersonate anyone, misrepresent a connection with us, post spam, artificially inflate likes, views or subscriptions, evade or manipulate our automated checks or translations (for example with hidden text or instructions aimed at AI systems), turn a published article or its links into something substantially different to reuse its reach, file false reports or return after we close your account. We do not tolerate objectionable content or abusive users.
Voices is for members’ own writing about Israel, the Jewish people and the region. Disagreement and criticism are welcome; antisemitism, hate, support for terrorism and calls for violence are not. Articles appear when their writers publish them, unless an automated check holds them for an editor. We do not verify or endorse members’ content, and featuring an article is not an endorsement; the views are the authors’ own. A blue check means our editors confirmed the writer’s identity; it does not endorse their views. We may remove it at any time, and it comes off when the writer changes their display name or profile photo until we confirm it again. Articles are translated automatically into the Service’s other languages and marked as translations; the writer’s original remains available, and translation errors can be reported. Writers may remove comments on their own articles.
We may review, restrict or remove content and accounts for violations, safety, legal compliance, to protect anyone, including us, from harm or legal liability, or for operation of the Service, subject to applicable law. Automated checks, which use AI models and image classifiers to compare text and pictures with these rules, review display names, profile photos, comments, pictures and clips before they appear, and Voices articles when they are published or changed; a check can block a comment, picture or clip or hold an article for an editor. These checks can miss content or hold it wrongly; passing one is not our approval, and we have no duty to monitor content. People review reports and held articles and may remove or hide content, limit who can see it, including to its writer alone, or restrict, suspend or close accounts, considering the severity, the context and freedom of expression. We remove terrorist content, child sexual abuse material and other clearly illegal content swiftly once we know of it, and close accounts that post child sexual abuse material or act for terrorist organizations. Repeated or serious violations can lead to account closure. We comply with valid court orders to remove content. Where the law requires it, we tell you when we remove or restrict your content or account, why, and how to challenge the decision.
Use an available Report control or email admin@thestateofisrael.com with the content location, the reason for your report and contact details. For an illegal-content notice, also include a good-faith statement that the information is accurate and complete. We may hide reported content while we review it. You may use that address to request review, appeal a decision or complain about how we handle content; where required, we confirm receipt, explain our decisions, say whether automated tools were used and provide complaint handling and access to legally available redress. We report apparent child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and other authorities where required, and may notify authorities of threats to someone’s life or safety. We reserve all protections and defenses available under applicable law.
Intimate images. If an intimate image or video of you was published on the Service without your consent, email admin@thestateofisrael.com with “Intimate image removal” in the subject line and include: where it appears; a brief statement that you believe in good faith it was published without your consent, with any information that helps us confirm this; your physical or electronic signature, such as your typed full name; and how to contact you. A person authorized to act for you may send the request. We remove the image within 48 hours of a valid request and make reasonable efforts to find and remove identical copies.
5. Copyright notices
Send copyright notices and counter-notices to our designated agent, Copyright Agent: admin@thestateofisrael.com; +1 213 992 2321; Chuppah LLC, 8 The Green, Ste B, Dover, DE 19901, United States. Notices must satisfy 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3); counter-notices must satisfy §512(g)(3), including consent to the federal district court where your U.S. address is located, or, for an address outside the United States, a district where Chuppah may be found, and acceptance of service from the notifier or their agent.
We handle notices, counter-notices and any restoration under the applicable statutory process. We tell the member whose content we remove, and we forward a counter-notice, including its sender’s contact details, to the person who sent the notice. We terminate repeat infringers’ accounts in appropriate circumstances.
6. Apps
App-store usage rules and applicable third-party terms also apply. The apps may download and install updates, including content updates, automatically. For an app obtained from Apple, these Terms are between you and Chuppah, not Apple. The license permits use on Apple-branded products you own or control under Apple’s usage rules, including permitted Family Sharing or volume purchasing. You represent that you are not in a U.S.-embargoed or designated terrorist-supporting country or on a U.S. prohibited-party list.
Chuppah is responsible for the app, its content, maintenance, support and applicable warranties; Apple has no maintenance or support obligation. If the app fails to meet an applicable warranty, you may notify Apple for a refund of any purchase price. To the extent permitted by law, Apple has no further warranty obligation, and associated claims, losses and costs are Chuppah’s responsibility. Chuppah, not Apple, addresses product, legal-compliance and consumer-protection claims and the investigation, defense, settlement and discharge of third-party intellectual-property claims concerning the app or its use.
Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of this section and may enforce it upon your acceptance. App questions or claims: admin@thestateofisrael.com; Chuppah LLC, 8 The Green, Ste B, Dover, DE 19901, United States.
7. Communications
You may unsubscribe from newsletters using the link in a message or by contacting us. If you subscribe to a Voices writer, we may email you about their new articles until you turn this off; each email has a link to stop them. Necessary account and service communications may continue.
8. Disclaimers and liability
TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE AND CONTENT ARE PROVIDED AS IS AND AS AVAILABLE, WITHOUT WARRANTIES, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE ACCURACY, AVAILABILITY OR ERROR-FREE OPERATION. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OR CONDUCT OF MEMBERS OR OTHER THIRD PARTIES. WE DO NOT PROMISE TO STORE OR KEEP AVAILABLE ANY CONTENT YOU SUBMIT; KEEP YOUR OWN COPIES.
TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CHUPPAH AND ITS OWNERS, MANAGERS, PERSONNEL, CONTRACTORS AND LICENSORS, OTHER THAN MEMBERS (THE “CHUPPAH PARTIES”) ARE NOT LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE LOSS, OR LOST PROFITS, DATA, CONTENT OR GOODWILL, INCLUDING FROM THE REMOVAL OR LOSS OF CONTENT. THE CHUPPAH PARTIES’ TOTAL LIABILITY ARISING FROM THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS IS LIMITED TO US$100 IN TOTAL. THESE LIMITS APPLY WHATEVER THE LEGAL THEORY, INCLUDING CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) AND STATUTE.
Nothing in these Terms excludes liability or limits rights that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
9. Your responsibility
To the extent permitted by law, you will defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Chuppah Parties from third-party claims and the resulting losses, damages, settlements and reasonable costs, including legal fees, arising from your unlawful use, your content or your violation of others’ rights or these Terms. We may control the defense and settlement, and you will reasonably cooperate; you may not settle a claim that affects us without our written consent.
10. Disputes
This section provides for individual arbitration, a class-action waiver and a jury-trial waiver, subject to rights that cannot lawfully be waived.
First contact admin@thestateofisrael.com with your claim. We and you will try to resolve it for 60 days before arbitration. Unresolved disputes concerning the Service or these Terms, including claims against the Chuppah Parties, will be decided by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules and, when applicable, its Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules and applicable fee schedules. A hearing may take place by video or at a location allowed by those rules. Judgment on the award may be entered in a court with jurisdiction. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this section.
Each party may bring claims only individually, not as a class or representative action, to the extent permitted by law. A claim that cannot proceed individually in arbitration goes to court, never to class arbitration. Either party may use small-claims court or seek interim injunctive relief from a competent court to protect intellectual property or confidential information, or to stop hacking, scraping or other misuse of the Service.
You may opt out of arbitration by emailing admin@thestateofisrael.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, with your name, the email used with the Service and a clear opt-out request.
Delaware law governs, subject to mandatory protections applicable to you. Non-arbitrable disputes are subject to the state or federal courts in New Castle County, Delaware, except where applicable law requires otherwise. To the extent permitted by law, both parties waive any right to a jury trial. Nothing restricts mandatory consumer remedies or legally available regulatory complaints.
11. Changes and general provisions
We may change or discontinue features and suspend or end access, subject to applicable law. We tell members about significant changes to these Terms by email or in the Service, and provide any other notice or obtain any acceptance the law requires. A change applies from its effective date to members who keep using their account after notice, and does not apply to a dispute that arose before it; if you do not agree, stop using the Service, and you may delete your account. The provisions intended to survive termination remain effective to the extent applicable.
These Terms are the agreement concerning the Service. If a provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue. Failure to enforce a right is not a waiver. We may transfer our rights and obligations with a business transfer; you may not transfer yours without permission. Nothing in these Terms makes you our employee, agent or partner, including when we pay you for writing. We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control. Notices we send to your account’s email address or show in the Service count as written notice. The Chuppah Parties may rely on Sections 8 to 10, and Apple on Section 6; otherwise these Terms create no third-party beneficiary rights.
12. Contact
Chuppah LLC: admin@thestateofisrael.com; Chuppah LLC, 8 The Green, Ste B, Dover, DE 19901, United States. This address is our point of contact for users and authorities, including under the EU Digital Services Act and for removal orders under the EU regulation on terrorist content online; you may write to us in English.