The Tel Aviv Magistrates’ Court on Sunday agreed with the libel suit filed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara against Yedioth Ahronoth journalist Yigal Sarna over a Facebook post, ordering him to pay plaintiffs roughly $30,000, as well as about $4,500 in court expenses. According to the verdict, “the defendant’s posts were malicious and ugly, intended to shame and humiliate the plaintiffs.”
The suit was filed by the couple following a Facebook post by Sarna, according to which Sara Netanyahu had ordered her husband to get out of their car on Highway 1. In the lawsuit, the two demanded compensation for defamation in the amount of $80,000.
Sarna issued a statement following the verdict, saying: “I will say this to all concerned – this verdict was predictable in these dark days, but it is only the beginning of the struggle against the silencing of voices, the silence of the security system and the general silence that is descending upon us. We will proceed to the next court.”
Judge Azaria Alkalai wrote in his ruling that “this is not a publication that constitutes an expression of opinion but rather a publication that is presumed to be factual and therefore constitutes defamation, even when taking into account that the plaintiffs are public figures.”
The judge added that “even though the plaintiff is a prime minister, a person of great power, the defendant is not a weak and poor man, but a very well-known and highly critical journalist who writes regularly in Yedioth Ahronoth. Until the publication in question, Netanyahu had not sued him nor tried to silence him.”
During the final court hearing, the defense argued that Sarna’s post was a parody.
In his testimony, Prime Minister said that “what broke the camel’s back was the fact that he (Sarna) decided that there was a story here – when there was none, and everything he said was a total lie.” Netanyahu added that claiming that “my wife controls the security of the State of Israel is a delusional thing.”
His wife Sara added in her testimony that “in the past I sued, and I will sue – for justice, and all that has been said about me is evil lies.”