Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu filed a 2.6 million shekel defamation lawsuit Monday in Jerusalem District Court against 10 journalists and media outlets over reports concerning warnings he received before the October 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack.
Among those named in the lawsuit are ynet, its parent newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth and their correspondent Nadav Eyal. The suit also names Channel 12, Haaretz and journalists Shlomi Eldar, Ruth Yuval, Uri Misgav, Barak Ravid and Attila Somfalvi.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: Shalev Shalom)
The lawsuit focuses on recent reports that Netanyahu received advance warnings from Arab leaders just days before the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023. Contrary to what is claimed in the lawsuit, neither Egypt nor the United Arab Emirates has so far issued an official denial of the reports that Netanyahu received such warnings.
The lawsuit states, among other things: "The plaintiff makes clear and emphasizes that this is a complete fabrication, a baseless fiction and a malicious misrepresentation. The prime minister received no such warning call, neither from the president of the UAE nor from the Egyptian intelligence minister. This is a complete invention intended to gravely harm national security and the prime minister, in blatant violation of the rules of journalistic ethics and with full knowledge that the claims are untrue."
The lawsuit goes on to link the reports to the election campaign. It states: "This publication does not exist in a vacuum. It is an act of fraud on a national scale, under the guise of 'journalistic work,' representing a new and dangerous low in the poisoning of Israel's public democratic discourse. The defendants' decision to disseminate false claims ... in the midst of an election campaign was also intended to exert improper and unlawful influence on the results of Israel's elections."