Yinon Magal to compensate Guy Peleg: Court rules on defamation lawsuit
The Magistrate's Court has ordered Channel 14 host Yinon Magal to compensate Channel 12 commentator Guy Peleg for defamation regarding false claims about military service. The lawsuit against the channel was dismissed.
The media dispute between Yinon Magal and Guy Peleg has reached a legal conclusion, though the outcome remains bittersweet for both parties. The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court ruled that Yinon Magal, host of "The Patriots" on Channel 14, must pay damages to Channel 12 commentator Guy Peleg for defamation.
The lawsuit, seeking 160,000 shekels, was filed following remarks made by Magal on air in August 2025, in which he claimed that Peleg "did not serve in the army" and "was discharged after two days." In reality, as proven in court, Peleg completed his full mandatory service and served in the reserves for 16 years, despite suffering from a chronic illness.
Judge Roi Shahar determined in the verdict that Magal's words did not fall under the protection of "expression of opinion," but rather constituted the presentation of a false fact intended to personally harm Peleg and portray him as a draft dodger. The court found that Magal acted in bad faith by failing to verify the facts before the broadcast.
However, the lawsuit against Channel 14 itself was dismissed. The judge accepted the channel's argument that the remarks were made during a live broadcast, and therefore the network could not have known in advance about Magal's intention to make them.
Regarding the financial compensation, Peleg received a relatively symbolic award of only 7,500 shekels, with no order for legal costs. The judge cited several reasons for the low amount, including the fact that Magal published a correction on air a few days later, as well as the significant gap between the 160,000-shekel lawsuit and Peleg's original demand in a warning letter, which stood at 50,000 shekels.
