Court Rejects Sara Netanyahu's Dismissal Request in Yair Golan Suit

The District Court has rejected a request by Prime Minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu, to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against her by The Democrats leader, Maj. Gen. (res.) Yair Golan, ruling that her claims lack any legal basis. Alongside the dismissal, the judge ordered Netanyahu to pay Golan 2,500 shekels in legal costs.

The Defamation Lawsuit

The 2.55 million shekel defamation suit was filed through attorneys Giora Erdinest, Almog Gil-Or, and Yarden Shohat from the EBN law firm. The lawsuit was initiated after Netanyahu refused to apologize or retract statements made during an interview on Channel 14, in which she insinuated that Golan had prior knowledge of the October 7 massacre.

As part of her dismissal motion, Netanyahu argued that she had merely given a traditional interview and that responsibility for publication and distribution rested solely with third parties and media outlets like Channel 14. The judge rejected this argument, establishing that Netanyahu gave the interview with full knowledge and consent that her remarks would be broadcast to the general public.

Court Rejects Responsibility Waiver

The lawsuit noted that Netanyahu's advisor watched the interview prior to its broadcast, indicating premeditation. Notably, the lawsuit goes beyond civil defamation claims, unprecedentedly demanding civil compensation for the criminal offense of incitement to violence.

"There is no justification for an artificial separation between the 'publication' aspect by the interviewee and the 'publication' aspect by the interviewing and broadcasting body, as they are two sides of the same coin and constitute a single publication," the judge ruled.

Responding to the decision, Yair Golan stated: "Today it was proven once again that the poison machine stops at nothing—neither at lies about the heroes of October 7 nor at attempts to undermine public trust in the judicial system."