From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 9, 2025
Left-wing leader sues 2 coalition MKs for defamation after they accused him of espionage
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan announces that he is suing two coalition lawmakers for alleged defamation.
In a statement, the left-wing politician says that he is going after Likud MK Tally Gotliv and Otzma Yehudit’s Almog Cohen “for spreading conspiracies and lies across the internet and from the Knesset plenum rostrum,” adding that Gotliv has previously received a warning letter from an attorney demanding NIS 250,000 ($68,000) in damages and a public apology.
“I am determined to dismantle the poison machine and I will continue to do so with full force,” Golan declares.
Both Gotliv and Cohen have spread internet conspiracy theories about Golan claiming that he was involved in espionage against Israel following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. The baseless conspiracies link Golan to an IDF reservist who presented himself as an intelligence officer following the Hamas attack to enter restricted areas and record classified discussions.
Last month, Cohen called on the police to investigate Golan regarding the “alleged connection of his name to the serious espionage affair in the Southern Command that I exposed.”
A former IDF Northern Front and Home Front commander, Golan made headlines and received accolades in 2023 when he headed to the front lines of the October 7 onslaught on his own initiative and rescued many partygoers fleeing the Hamas-led massacre at the Nova rave.
In response, Cohen’s office issues a statement calling on Golan “to join my demand that the prosecutor’s office reveal the notebook of the defendant” in the Southern Command espionage case, claiming that it “contains Yair Golan’s name and number.”
“For 15 months, it and this entire affair have been under a strict gag order. Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” Cohen’s bureau says.
In a lengthy tweet, Gotliv confirms receiving Golan’s letter and says that he “belongs behind bars for his despicable and dangerous actions and statements.”
“The fact that he was not questioned in the espionage case… is frightening. I still wonder how Golan wasn’t investigated for the many offenses he committed,” she writes.
Her comments in the Knesset plenum were made because she “had a duty” to raise the fact that “he was the politician connected to the espionage case” and “I wondered and still wonder why they didn’t investigate him and who is covering for him.”
“My clear statements in the Knesset are protected by substantive parliamentary immunity and therefore I cannot be sued for them.”
Gotliv is currently being sued for defamation by anti-government protest leader Shikma Bressler. She has rebuffed summonses for police questioning, citing parliamentary immunity.
Cohen and Gotliv are not the only coalition MKs to spread conspiracy theories about Golan. During an interview on the Knesset channel on Tuesday, Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Nissim Vaturi (Likud) insinuated that Golan may have betrayed Israel by allegedly cooperating with the Hamas terror group in the October 7 assault and dismissed multiple eyewitness testimonies that Golan rushed to the scene of the attack where he saved several people by evacuating them from the danger zone.
