Yair Golan Demands Apology from Sara Netanyahu or Faces Lawsuit

Yair Golan, chairman of the Democratic Party, has sent a legal notice to Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding an apology within 24 hours. The demand stems from an interview Netanyahu gave to Channel 14, where she promoted a conspiracy theory alleging Golan arrived in southern Israel on October 7th before the Prime Minister had even woken up.

Golan's notice states that if Netanyahu does not issue a public apology and pay NIS 2.5 million to survivors of the Nova music festival massacre, he will file a lawsuit. The proposed apology text requires Netanyahu to retract her statements, calling them "baseless lies," and to acknowledge that Golan, armed and at personal risk, went to the Gaza border area on October 7th to rescue young people from the Nova party. The text further clarifies that Golan, like all Israelis, learned of the Hamas attack upon hearing the first sirens at 6:29 AM and subsequently decided to act.

In his letter, Golan detailed his actions on the morning of the attack. He stated he learned of the Hamas assault with the initial sirens, left his home by private car for the Home Front Command headquarters, obtained an assault rifle, and drove to the Gaza border. He recounted entering the area where festival-goers had fled multiple times that morning, rescuing six individuals. Golan's lawyers asserted that Netanyahu's statements were "defamatory and false slander" intended to portray him as a traitor and to manipulate facts to damage his reputation ahead of elections.

The Democratic Party chairman's legal team emphasized that Golan will not permit attempts to erase the heroism of IDF soldiers, civilian security teams, citizens, and volunteers through historical revisionism. The party has described Netanyahu's conspiracy theory as bordering on "madness."