Yair Netanyahu ordered to pay $34,000 for post suggesting woman was Gantz’s paramour
Kfar Saba court orders PM’s son to compensate Blue and White activist Dana Cassidy for ‘shocking and extreme’ statements, which led to harassment by Netanyahu supporters
The prime minister’s son Yair Netanyahu was ordered Wednesday to pay NIS 130,000 ($34,000) in damages to a political activist over an online post insinuating she was National Unity leader Benny Gantz’s lover.
Dana Cassidy, an activist for Gantz’s Blue and White list, had sued Netanyahu for libel over a tweet showing her Facebook profile picture during the heat of an election campaign in 2020.
The screenshot, which included her name and position, followed posts detailing unsubstantiated allegations about romantic affairs Gantz was supposedly involved in. Above it Netanyahu had asked “Does anyone know who this is?”
The Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court described the posts as a “clear example of the violent, blatant, and sometimes even shameful discourse that takes place on social networks.”
“Some of the statements are truly shocking and extreme. Against this background, it is appropriate that every person, particularly the son of a prime minister of Israel with a large number of followers, demonstrate self-restraint and caution in statements and publications,” Judge Ronen Peleg ruled.
The court rejected Netanyahu’s defense that the posts were made in “good faith” and benefited the plaintiff, charging that the premier’s son demonstrated a lack of understanding toward Cassidy.
Cassidy celebrated the win, the second libel judgment this year against the prime minister’s son, who is known for his far-right views and combative social media presence.
מישהו יודע מי זאת? ???? pic.twitter.com/nWtzbkMZ46
— Yair Netanyahu (@YairNetanyahu) February 23, 2020
“Everyone who is quick to pull the trigger will now know that trampling on a person’s dignity has a price,” she told Channel 12 news. “Not every weapon is allowed, even in the political game.”
She alleged that Netanyahu had attempted to cow her into withdrawing the suit.
Last year the court ordered Netanyahu to pay Cassidy NIS 500,000 ($154,000) after he failed to show up to defend himself in court.
Peleg accepted Netanyahu’s appeal in which he claimed to have never received a subpoena — a claim the young Netanyahu has also made in another libel case against him — and ordered that the case be reheard.
Netanyahu had shared his posts with his 140,000 followers, leading to harassment of Cassidy by supporters of the Netanyahu family.
After Netanyahu’s post, a pro-Likud Twitter account replied with an image of Cassidy alongside Gantz, with the superimposed caption: “He invited me for tea and it turned me on.”
Cassidy, an animal rights activist, was photographed with Gantz when he and Blue and White MK Miki Haimovitch visited a farm where she works. She denies the tea caption was hers.
Yair Netanyahu has a history of posting incendiary messages on social media, leading to a report in April that the premier had demanded he stop posting amid accusations he was inflaming tensions in Israel and exacerbating a diplomatic rift with the United States.
A Tel Aviv court ruled in March that Netanyahu must pay former Labor party lawmaker Stav Shaffir NIS 70,000 ($18,000) for defamatory comments, court costs and other legal fees.
Netanyahu has appealed that decision.
