Court Limits Talie Gottlieb’s Immunity in Shimka Bresler Libel Suit

The Tel Aviv District Court ruled that MK Talie Gottlieb will not receive immunity from part of the civil lawsuit filed against her by protest activist Shimka Bresler. The case concerns posts Gottlieb published about Bresler’s husband, a Shin Bet officer, including claims tied to him and to Yahya Sinwar.

The court rejected Gottlieb’s immunity claim for some factual allegations, but accepted it for posts that amounted to opinion or criticism. It said members of Knesset enjoy broad immunity intended to protect the democratic process and warned against limiting their speech because of a chilling effect that could harm their public duties. The court also noted that lawmakers should not be forced to defend themselves repeatedly in court.

At the same time, the judge stressed that immunity is not absolute under the Knesset Immunity Law and Supreme Court precedent. Bresler was defined as a public figure, and the court said Gottlieb was entitled to criticize her and her actions. It also ruled that Gottlieb’s discussion of the reasons for Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack and the need to investigate them lies at the heart of her public role, so such harshly worded posts are broadly protected.

However, the court found special circumstances that justify continuing the lawsuit over some factual publications. It said Supreme Court case law does not protect the deliberate exposure of a security service officer’s identity. The court added that the posts were not made in a neutral security context, but in connection with the officer’s relationship to Bresler and with other claims about her alleged influence on the war and her meeting with the Mossad chief. The ruling applies only to the civil defamation suit, while the criminal immunity question is being handled separately in the Knesset under Section 4 of the Immunity Law.