Court rejects journalist’s appeal of NIS 100,00 libel damage award to Netanyahus

The Tel Aviv District Court rejects an appeal by a journalist who was told to pay compensation of  NIS 100,000 ($28,300) to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara following a libel lawsuit against him.

The Netanyahus filed a defamation suit against Igal Sarna in 2016 after he alleged in a Facebook post that Sara had stopped the prime minister’s convoy on a major highway and kicked her husband out of the car on the side of the road.

In its latest ruling, the court rejects his claim that the libel lawsuit was filed to try and shut him up by overwhelming him with legal fees until he withdrew his comments.

“The lawsuit that was not filed expressing criticism or giving an opinion but in the matter of a factual publication of something that happened,” Judge Abigail Cohen says. “The suit filed for a proportionate amount.”

— Stuart Winer