Yair Golan, leader of Israel's Democrats party and a retired major general, filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday in the Central District Court seeking 2.55 million shekels (approximately $650,000) in damages from Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The suit follows her refusal to apologize or retract statements made during an interview with Channel 14, in which Golan alleges she insinuated he possessed prior knowledge of the October 7 Hamas massacre.
The legal filing, submitted through attorneys Giora Erdinast, Almog Gil-Or, and Yarden Shochat of the EBN law firm, argues that Netanyahu's remarks fed into "false and baseless conspiracy theories" designed to damage Golan's reputation. According to the complaint, these theories were not spontaneous but rather originated from "the malicious minds of those attempting to deflect responsibility for the terrible disaster." The lawsuit emphasizes that Golan risked his life throughout his military career and continued to do so on October 7, 2023, when he traveled to the Gaza border communities to assist and rescue civilians under attack.
The filing states that following the interview, intelligence sources provided concrete warnings of intentions to harm Golan physically. A report submitted with the lawsuit documents a 450% spike in online incitement against him. The threat level, according to the complaint, necessitated a significant expansion and deepening of private security arrangements around him ahead of upcoming elections.
