Democrats faction head Yair Golan filed a NIS 2.55 million lawsuit against Sara Netanyahu on Thursday, accusing the prime minister’s wife of defaming him and endangering his life by implying that he knew in advance about the October 7 Hamas attack.
The suit, filed in the Central District Court in Lod, asks the court to order Netanyahu to pay damages and publish a correction and clarification.
The dispute stems from an August 31 interview with Channel 14, in which Netanyahu questioned how Golan, a former IDF deputy chief of staff, reached southern Israel on the morning of the attack.
“When you are a military officer of such a high rank and claim that you fought on October 7, you were already there early in the morning, already dressed and prepared,” she said. “At a very, very early hour, when others did not know, such as the prime minister.”
Golan argues that an ordinary viewer would understand those remarks as suggesting that he knew the attack was coming before it began, failed to warn anyone, and may even have been involved in a betrayal of the country.
Court will have to decide how a reasonable viewer would understand comments
The lawsuit also argues that Netanyahu cast doubt on Golan’s documented rescue efforts by saying that he “claims” to have fought that day.
Netanyahu has rejected that interpretation. Responding to a warning letter sent by Golan on September 1, she said her remarks had been distorted and were directed sarcastically at those who, she argued, failed to alert the prime minister promptly after the attack began.
Later in the interview, when asked about theories alleging betrayal on October 7, Netanyahu said she was “not part of any theories.” Likud said following Golan’s warning that she had not alleged a conspiracy and had, in fact, said the opposite. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said that “there was no betrayal on October 7; there was a failure.”
The court will ultimately have to decide how a reasonable viewer would have understood the interview as a whole, not merely how either side now describes it.
