After cancer revelation, court orders Netanyahu to submit sealed medical records in libel case

The Ramle Magistrate’s Court orders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to submit his medical records to the court, including details of the prostate cancer he was recently treated for, and when it was first diagnosed.

Judge Menahem Mizrahi issues the order in the context of a libel suit Netanyahu filed against journalists Uri Misgav and Ben Caspit, and prominent Netanyahu critic Gonen Ben Yitzhak, for asserting publicly in 2024 that the prime minister had a serious illness.

Earlier this week, Misgav filed a request to the court to summon the head of Netanyahu’s medical staff, Dr. Tzvi Berkovitz, and the head of the medical team who treated his prostate cancer, Prof. Aron Popovtzer, to give evidence in the libel case, after Netanyahu disclosed last month for the first time that he had been diagnosed with and treated for prostate cancer.

Mizrachi rules that Netanyahu must file up-to-date medical records to the court. The file will be sealed and will not be made publicly available.

The judge orders that Berkovitz write a signed letter to be submitted alongside the medical file stating that the file presents an up-to-date account of Netanyahu’s health and medical situation, and includes details on “the time when the plaintiff’s prostate cancer was discovered.”

Netanyahu must file the medical records by May 13.

Mizrachi adds that once Netanyahu himself has testified in the case, he will decide whether to summon Berkovitz and Popovtzer to give evidence in court.