Police grill legal reporter over allegation he ‘shoved’ employee of Sara Netanyahu
Opposition pan cops’ move to probe Aviad Glickman as attack on freedom of press, after worker for prime minister’s wife claimed he pushed her in court
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Police summoned journalist Aviad Glickman for questioning under caution on Tuesday on suspicion that he shoved an employee of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, during a court case in late May.
The development was panned by the Israel Bar Association as a “worrisome” symptom of intimidation of the media, and opposition lawmakers warned that police must distance themselves from any appearance of undermining press freedom.
Glickman, Channel 13’s legal correspondent, who is known as a critic of the prime minister, was covering a hearing in a libel countersuit filed by Sara Netanyahu against Sylvie Genesia, a former worker at the Prime Minister’s Residence.
Footage showed him jostling Gal Dabush, an employee of the prime minister’s wife, while trying to push through a crowded doorway at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, apparently in order to film Netanyahu as she left the court. Immediately afterward, Likud spokesperson Guy Levy shouted at Glickman that he will file a police complaint for assault. Glickman was then sent away from the court by officials as Levy filmed him and hurled insults at him.
In further footage circulated on social media shortly after the incident, Dabush told the camera that Glickman “pushed my back,” adding, “It now hurts me.”
She claimed the incident left her bruised and in pain.
ביציאה מאולם הדיונים של בית משפט לענייני העבודה במשפט הדיבה של גברת שרה נתניהו נגד עובדת במעון רה"מ סילבי גנסיה כתב הפלילים אביעד גליקמן תקף עובדת מצוות של שרה נתניהו. pic.twitter.com/CxS0hAuxw6
— Boris Aplichuk בוריס אפליצ'וק (@aplichuk) May 28, 2025
The Israel Police’s Tel Aviv District summoned Glickman Tuesday for questioning under caution.
Israel Bar Association head Amit Becher slammed the police’s move.
“Summoning journalist Aviad Glickman for questioning following a complaint by an official affiliated with the leadership is worrisome,” Becher contended, voicing concern that the move may have been an attempt to intimidate journalists critical of Netanyahu and his associates.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid wrote on X that it is “clear that this is a matter of trying to fabricate a false complaint against a reporter that the regime hates.”
Opposition National Unity party leader Benny Gantz wrote on X that journalists who are reporting news should only be investigated in the “most extreme cases.”
The video of the incident, Gantz said, showed that “it doesn’t come close to something that requires police investigation.”
“Press freedom is an important value in democracy, and the police must avoid even appearing to harm it,” Gantz wrote.
He urged the chief of police to reassess the situation and Glickman’s summoning for questioning.
In a statement, police said that Glickman was questioned following a complaint against him, and that “all required approval was received.”
In order to investigate a reporter, police must receive approval from the head of the investigations department and the deputy state prosecutor. Boaz Balat, head of the Israel Police’s Investigations Department, personally approved the probe, while the prosecution is aware of the investigation and has not opposed it, the Haaretz daily reported. It noted that police claim that at the time of the clash Glickman was not engaged in actual reporting.
Unnamed senior officials in the judiciary expressed to Haaretz their concern that the “unfounded” probe was ordered due to political pressure on police, and predicted it would be closed.
Dabush had also recently been employed in the office of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who leads the far-right Otzma Yehudi party and is responsible for the police force.
והמתלוננת גל החלה לאחרונה לסייע לבן גביר בסושיאל.
עכשיו אפשר אולי להבין את הלהט המשטרתי לחקור עיתונאים. pic.twitter.com/alwEs70AXd— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) July 8, 2025
Sara Netanyahu filed a libel lawsuit in 2020 against housekeeper Genesia, who reportedly told police that the manager of the Prime Minister’s Residence made her pen a letter lauding the premier’s wife, even though her housekeeping demands had brought her to tears.
Genesia made the claim to police as part of an investigation into whether two employees at the Prime Minister’s Residence gave false testimony in a civil case against Sara Netanyahu — purportedly in order to help her fend off accusations of mistreating a cleaner at the residence.
Genesia later sued Netanyahu and the HR company that employed her for NIS 650,000 ($179,400) in damages for mistreatment she says she experienced while working at the residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem.
The Times of Israel Community.