From In court filing, Yair Golan accuses Netanyahu of suing him to silence talk of PM’s alleged ties to Qatar
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
In a court filing defending himself against a defamation lawsuit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Democrats party chief Yair Golan accuses the premier of seeking to block any public discussions of his alleged ties to Qatar.
The document details what Golan’s office describes as a pattern of behavior in recent years that “raises serious suspicions of harming national security for political gain,” and even suspicions that Netanyahu and his people “sold the security of Israel’s children for Qatari money.”
Golan says that he intends to demand the disclosure of documents detailing the sources of funding for Netanyahu and the Likud party in recent election campaigns, details of Netanyahu’s bank accounts and assets in Israel and abroad, and records of meetings and conversations with Qatari officials over the past decade.
“Netanyahu fears that his ties with Qatar, and the depth of the most serious security affair in Israel’s history, will be exposed to the public. This is a lawsuit with a clear goal: to silence any public discussion about the connections that led to the strengthening of Hamas, the failure and the massacre of October 7,” Golan says in a statement. “The citizens of Israel deserve to know the truth, and the court is the place to reveal it. We will demand the disclosure of all documents, testimonies and facts so that the truth comes to light.”
In April, Netanyahu filed a defamation suit against Golan over messages he sent to supporters accusing the premier of peddling the country’s security for money in the so-called Qatargate scandal.
According to the Ynet news site, Netanyahu charged that the message not only “contain[ed] false and ugly content” and “fake news, unbridled incitement, and slander,” but also was part of an effort to use such messaging to solicit donations.
Netanyahu is reportedly demanding financial compensation of NIS 320,000 ($86,400) and an order instructing Golan to “refrain from spreading defamation.”
Last month, Golan called for checking the prime minister’s bank accounts to ensure that he has not been accepting Qatari money in light of senior aides’ financial ties to the Arab state.
Under Netanyahu, Israel allowed suitcases with millions in Qatari cash to enter Gaza through Israeli crossings between 2018 and 2023, to maintain its fragile ceasefire with the Hamas rulers of the Strip.
Hebrew media has reported that Netanyahu was warned at least twice before the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, that the terror group’s military chief, Muhammad Deif, was appropriating funds provided by Qatar to Gaza.
Several of Netanyahu’s top aides are currently under investigation over alleged financial ties with Qatar. Netanyahu is not a suspect.
The Times of Israel Community.