TA resident says PM threatening to sue him for Facebook post

A Tel Aviv resident said Monday he had been threatened with a lawsuit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after sharing a blog post disparaging of the Israeli leader.

Yoav Salem, 56, told the Haaretz newspaper that he had been contacted by Netanyahu family lawyer Yossi Cohen after he shared a blog post claiming — without apparent evidence — that the premier’s son Yair had served as an illicit courier for his family, depositing millions of dollars in offshore tax shelters.

Cohen accused Salem of “slandering my client with serious and severe slander…this post is a direct continuation of a series of vile, despicable and utterly false posts you have consistently publicized on your Facebook page relating to my client.”

Salem said Cohen accused him of breaking libel laws by writing such posts, and threatened him with legal action if he did not remove the offending post and appoligize in a matter of days.

The Tel Aviv resident said he had no intention of deleting the post. “When I opened the letter (from Cohen) I realized something bizarre was happening in this country.

“I don’t understand why they would sue me and not the source. All of the posts (in question) are ones that I shared. It’s sad and ludicrous. The prime minister is supposed to look out for the people, but he’s busy trying to intimidate them.”

Salem’s lawyer Yaron Meidan told Haaretz the threatening letter was “deranged” and promised an official response soon. “I hope that’ll put an end to things.”