Twitter User Must Pay $48,000 for Defaming Israeli General

A Magistrate's Court in Kfar Saba has ordered social media user Ido Shifoni to pay approximately NIS 180,000 (around $48,000 USD) to retired Major General Yisrael Ziv. The ruling stems from a post Shifoni published accusing Ziv, along with former MK Yair Golan and General Noam Tibon, of treason.

Shifoni's post questioned how Ziv, Golan, and Tibon, whom he described as having "sworn to do everything to overthrow the government," appeared "ready and polished to storm the cameras" on the morning of October 7th, 2023, in the Gaza border region. He contrasted their appearance with soldiers who were "slaughtered in their beds" and unaware.

The judge, Ronen Peleg, determined that Shifoni's words were not ambiguous and clearly implied that Ziv, Golan, and Tibon, along with an unnamed "spy," had prior knowledge of the Hamas attack and deliberately appeared for media attention rather than to fight. The court found the underlying assumption of Shifoni's post to be that Ziv and his associates "knew in advance about the planned massacre and did not update the IDF."

Judge Peleg stated that this implication suggested Ziv had "betrayed his people and his country" and that his presence was for self-aggrandizement, not combat. The court emphasized the bravery of security forces on October 7th, fighting "heroically side by side without distinction or political views," with many paying with their lives. The judge expressed regret that such "heroic deeds are tarnished by publications like the one the defendant sinned with."