A Chipmunk Emoji Cost an Israeli Texter $2,200 (2017)

I wish the article linked to the original decision. Maybe my Hebrew skills are too basic, but I don’t think that emojis were needed to show the intent of the buyer. The party said: ‏רוצים את הבית Or “(we) want the house” not “we’re interesting in the house”.

Someone with better Hebrew will likely say that I don’t know the nuance of the root word, but my counter argument would be that Israel is a country of immigrants and that the plain language shows their interest without even addressing the emojis.

I’m not a lawyer, but this seems like an insane ruling, especially in rental law. I’ve learned never to trust anything until a contract is signed. This may be an offer to make a contract, but how long should that offer be considered? When can either party withdraw the offer?

It's not a good headline. Not the emoji cost the texter money, but acting in bad faith [according to the ruling]. If you mislead the counterparty during a negotiation by using emojis --- you are still misleading the counterparty.