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Photo: AFP
Igal Sarna
Photo: AFP

Court rejects appeal by journalist sued for libel by Netanyahu couple

Journalist Igal Sarna tried to appeal decision after court ruled in favor of PM and his wife and ordered Sarna to pay them NIS 100,000 in compensation and an additional NIS 20,000 to cover legal expenses.

The Tel Aviv District Court rejected on Sunday an appeal filed by journalist Igal Sarna, who lost a legal battle after being sued for libel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara.

 

 

Sarna was ordered to pay the couple NIS 100,000 ($29,500) in compensation and an additional NIS 20,000 ($5,900) to cover their legal expenses.

 

The Netanyahu couple sued Sarna over a Facebook post in which he claimed the prime minister's convoy stopped on Highway 1 because Sara Netanyahu did not want to stay in the same car as the prime minister.

 

The Netanyahu couple; Igal Sarna (Photos: EPA, AFP)
The Netanyahu couple; Igal Sarna (Photos: EPA, AFP)

 

The couple claimed the incident never occurred and demanded NIS 279,000 ($82,300) in damages. They also claimed Sarna did not approach them for a comment before publishing and that this was a violation of their privacy.

 

Sarna asked to reverse the decision, claiming the suit was meant to silence him and he and the prime minister were not on equal footing. The cause for the suit, Sarna's lawyer argued, was dubious, adding that Sarna's hands were tied by the Magistrate's Court, making it difficult for him to prove what he had written.

 

District Court Judge Avigail Cohen rejected the appeal, writing that "As the post was not proven to be truthful, the presumption is that the publication was done in bad faith, and it was the appellant's responsibility to prove he was acting in good faith."

 

Explaining his decision, Magistrate's Court Judge Azaria Alcalay wrote that "Because (the prime minister) is a high-level public figure, attributing such an incident to him is offensive, insulting and embarrassing and creates the image of a weak, insecure man who is controlled by his wife."

 

Mrs. Netanyahu, the judge wrote, is portrayed by the report as one who "has no regard for the security establishment by allegedly stopping the prime minister's convoy because of her whims."

 

The judge noted that while "this report was not proven as truth to me," it does not constitute "the highest level of defamation."

 

Sarna, meanwhile, stood by his report, saying "I'm sure it happened, more so now than I did then."

 

Judge sends Yair Netanyahu, Molad to mediation

In another defamation suit involving the prime minister's son, Yair, and Molad, the Center for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy, the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court sent the sides to mediation.

 

Last August, Molad filed a NIS 140,000 libel suit against Yair Netanyahu over posts the latter wrote on Facebook, accusing him of obsessively trying to hurt Molad in a "terrible, cynical, despicable, evil and uninhibited manner, with the goal of trying to shame the plaintiff ... hurt its image and good name, sabotage its activity and to humiliate the plaintiff in public using ugly false posts that don't contain a shred of truth."

 

Yair Netanyahu (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Yair Netanyahu (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

 

Yair Netanyahu responded by filing a countersuit against Molad for a similar sum for libel, the violation of his privacy and damages for slandering him. According to Netanyahu's lawyer, Molad published falsehoods about the prime minister's son under the headline "5 things you didn't know about Yair Netanyahu," where it was claimed the young Netanyahu did not work and was living off the taxpayer's dime, that he had a security detail 24/7, and that he has influence over his father the prime minister, mostly in the media field.

 

In addition, Netanyahu's lawyer claimed a photo of his client in a clown's outfit with a crown on his head constitutes defamation, further alleging Molad paid for the Facebook post to receive greater exposure.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.28.18, 17:36
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