The District Court has rejected Sara Netanyahu's request to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against her by Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, ordering the prime minister's wife to pay him 2,000 shekels in legal expenses.
The lawsuit, seeking 2.55 million shekels in damages, was filed after Golan alleged that Netanyahu had suggested during an interview with Channel 14 that he had advance knowledge of the October 7 Hamas attack.
In her motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Netanyahu argued, among other things, that she had participated in a "traditional interview" and that responsibility for publishing and distributing her remarks rested with third parties and media organizations, including Channel 14.
The court rejected that argument, ruling that Netanyahu had agreed to the interview with the knowledge and understanding that her remarks would be broadcast to the general public.
"There is no justification for artificially separating the aspect of 'publication' by the interviewee from the 'publication' by the interviewing and broadcasting organization. These are two sides of the same coin and constitute a single publication," the court stated in its decision.
Following the ruling, Golan responded: "Once again, it has been proven that the poison machine will stop at nothing, whether spreading lies about the heroes of October 7 or attempting to undermine public trust in the judicial system. Today's ruling is further proof that truth will prevail over lies."