As part of her defamation lawsuit against Udi Mizrahi, owner of the popular Telegram channel Hadashot Bazman, or “News in Real Time,” Sara Netanyahu said in an affidavit filed with the court that she has “no access whatsoever to security information,” rejecting allegations that she leaked such information to her close friend Vered Gross ahead of the killing of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
At a hearing Sunday in the lawsuit, which had also named Keshet, Kan 11, Channel 12 News and reporter Omri Maniv as defendants, Netanyahu agreed to drop the proceedings against the media organizations and Maniv. Her case against Mizrahi, who made the original allegation that Netanyahu had leaked confidential information, will continue. During the hearing, Mizrahi also claimed that Gross’s grandson was the source through whom information reached him.
The agreement to drop the claims against the media defendants came after the judge told Netanyahu’s attorney, Uriel Hur Nizri, and lawyers representing Kan 11, Channel 12 News, Keshet and Maniv that the broader context raised “questions of fairness,” while suggesting that the sides could resolve the case by agreement.
After a recess, the court announced that an agreement had been reached under which proceedings would continue only against Mizrahi, while the remaining defendants would be removed from the case. The media organizations also agreed to publish the eventual outcome of the continuing proceedings between Netanyahu and Mizrahi.
The 500,000-shekel defamation suit was filed in December 2024 following a Kan 11 report broadcast on December 21 about the popular Telegram channel. In that report, Mizrahi said: “I’ll give you a scoop. I have the best source in the world, who keeps giving me reports without knowing that she’s reporting to me: Sara Netanyahu. She has lots of friends she tells things to. Sara Netanyahu called friends and told them they needed to be careful, that missiles had already been launched at us, and within five minutes I knew. Thanks to Sara Netanyahu, I knew they were going to kill Nasrallah.”
On December 22, Channel 12 aired a report by Maniv in which Mizrahi said that he received information about Sara Netanyahu’s conversations through second- and third-hand sources. He also claimed that he knew three days in advance of plans to kill Nasrallah. The report noted that 48 minutes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in New York, Mizrahi wrote in his Telegram group that Nasrallah would be killed within days or about a week. Mizrahi stressed that the post was based only on his “personal assessment.” Nasrallah was killed the following day.
The site of the strike that killed Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut
(Photo: Ibrahim Amro/AFP)
The report also said Mizrahi claimed to have received information through the same route about Iran’s first direct attack on Israel, the IDF ground operation in Lebanon and hostage negotiations. The material was passed to Israel’s military censor and the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate’s information security unit.
In her lawsuit, Netanyahu described the allegations as a “complete lie” published with the intention of harming her. She sought damages, an apology and an order barring further publication of the claims.
Mizrahi said in court Sunday that his information about Netanyahu had reached him through the grandson of Vered Gross. “In practice, since 2019 I have constantly been receiving information,” he said.
Asked by the judge when the conversation concerning Nasrallah took place, Mizrahi said it was before the Netanyahus flew to the United States. “I wrote three days beforehand because that is what we were told. The publication said that Nasrallah’s days were numbered,” he said.
Regarding Iran’s April 2024 attack, Mizrahi alleged that Gross told others she had spoken with Sara Netanyahu before the Iranian barrage.
“On April 14, when the Iranians launched missiles, Vered Gross, Sara Netanyahu’s friend, said she had spoken with Sara and that Sara wished the people of Israel would get through it safely,” Mizrahi told the court. He claimed Gross said the targets would be military rather than civilian and added that he had a recording of the conversation.
Mizrahi also claimed he had received concrete information ahead of the IDF’s ground operation in Lebanon and had passed it to the mayor of Kiryat Shmona. He said Gross’s grandson was repeatedly asked to obtain information through his grandmother.
“Before I was interviewed, I told IDF officials I was prepared to expose my information because it had already become dangerous,” Mizrahi said.
Ahead of the hearing, Netanyahu’s attorney filed an affidavit in which she categorically denied discussing planned strikes in Iran or Nasrallah’s killing with Gross or anyone else.
“I have never spoken with Ms. Gross and/or any other person about information concerning expected strikes in Iran and/or the killing of Nasrallah, and no such information was in my possession during the relevant period,” Netanyahu said in the affidavit. “I do not participate in security discussions and have no access whatsoever to security information, including regarding strikes in Iran and/or the killing of Israel’s enemies, including Hezbollah leader Nasrallah.”
When Mizrahi was asked why he had not approached Gross directly after concluding that the source posed a potential security risk, he said he had not wanted her to be harmed.
“Of course not. I didn’t want her to get hurt,” he said. “I’m only being exposed because the lawsuit was filed. On December 1, I passed it on to the information security unit and the censor.”