From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 23, 2018
After filing libel lawsuit, PM says journalist Ben Caspit will ‘pay dearly’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes on a Twitter tirade against Maariv journalist Ben Caspit, against whom he filed a libel lawsuit earlier today, calling him a “habitual liar” for hinting that the premier made an illicit payment to a legal official designed to influence the outcome of graft probes into his conduct.
“Spoiler: The habitual liar Ben Caspit, who has been persecuting me for decades, will again be forced to pay,” Netanyahu writes on Twitter.
In 2017, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court resolved a lawsuit filed seven years earlier against Caspit by the premier’s wife Sara Netanyahu.
Caspit apologized and paid Sara Netanyahu NIS 50,000 ($13,300) for claiming she had been involved in the sacking of a 70-year-old janitor at the Prime Minister’s residence.
Hitting below the belt, Netanyahu invokes the journalist’s brother’s arrest 17 years ago.
“Ben Caspit’s sickening obsession will again cost him… dearly,” the prime minister says in a follow-up tweet, sharing a screenshot from a 2001 article about the arrest of Caspit’s brother, Uri, on suspicion of large-scale fraud.
“Had Ben Caspit looked a little more after his family instead of persecuting my family, maybe we would’ve been spared such unfortunate incidents,” Netanyahu says.
The Times of Israel Community.