Protest leader’s partner sues Likud MK Gotliv for defamation, seeking NIS 8.3 million

The partner of anti-government activist Shikma Bressler sues Likud MK Tali Gotliv and 20 other people for NIS 8.3 million ($2.6 million) for spreading what he calls libelous statements intended to cause him harm.

In January 2024, Gotliv posted on social media that Bressler’s partner was a Shin Bet agent. The statement ostensibly violated the 2002 Law for the Shin Bet, which prohibits disclosing the identity of an agent.

In a series of posts, Gotliv spread apparent conspiracy theories alleging that Bressler’s partner had conducted talks with then-Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar prior to the terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre and coordinated the atrocities with Sinwar, along with former Labor prime minister Ehud Barak.

“Beyond the obvious and serious harm that the false publications cause to the plaintiff’s good name, they also seriously harm the ability to maintain a fact-based public discourse and therefore go to the core of democracy,” the lawsuit against Gotliv asserts.

“If in normal times, the role of the court is to protect citizens from arbitrary government action, then in days when government officials are the ones who deliberately harm citizens who contribute and serve, for the sake of cheap political gain, this role of the court is intensified all the more.”

Idan Seger, the attorney representing Bressler’s partner, said that Gotliv had “deliberately acted to turn a law-abiding, contributing citizen into a target of hatred, based on a blood libel and malicious lies – and all for political reasons, in order to divert responsibility for the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust from the political echelons.”

Bressler herself filed a civil lawsuit for defamation against Gotliv for NIS 2.6 million in February 2024 over the lawmaker’s claims.

A criminal investigation has also been opened into Gotliv for revealing the identity of the Shin Bet agent. The Attorney General’s Office announced in July that it was set to indict Gotliv, pending a hearing with her.

In response to the suit, Gotliv claims that the Shin Bet leadership is “in a panic,” and makes a series of claims about the organization’s responsibility for the security failures surrounding the October 7 attack.

She also continues to claim that her comments are covered by parliamentary immunity and that she is therefore not criminally or civilly liable for them.