Israeli TV Host Ordered to Pay Colleague for Disparaging Military Service

A Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court has ruled that Yinon Magal, a host on Israel's Channel 14 and former Knesset member, must pay 7,500 shekels in compensation to Guy Peleg, a journalist for Channel 12. The court found Magal's statement that Peleg "didn't serve in the army at all, discharged after a couple of days" to be defamatory, as it diminished Peleg's military past. Court proceedings revealed that Peleg completed his full regular service and served as a reservist for 16 years. Peleg himself stated he had a "21 profile" (medical unsuitability) due to severe asthma but still performed "voluntary service." The court determined Magal's assertion was factually incorrect and damaging in the Israeli context.

However, a separate claim by Peleg against Channel 14 as a whole was dismissed. The court reasoned that since the broadcast was live, the network could not have had prior knowledge or control over Magal's specific remarks. This ruling is part of a series of mutual lawsuits between right-wing and left-wing activists, journalists, and politicians. Recently, Likud party activist Rahamim (Rami) Ben-Yehuda won a lawsuit against Guy Peleg for calling him a "criminal" on radio in 2024. The judge noted Ben-Yehuda had no criminal record, and the insult was not a matter of subjective opinion, awarding Ben-Yehuda 29,000 shekels.

Currently, reservists from the "100" unit, who guarded Hamas captives at the Sde Teyman base early in the war, are suing multiple individuals, including Guy Peleg, former military prosecutor Ifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. They seek 18 million shekels in damages, alleging defamation and compromise due to an "illegal and intentional leak" of investigative information to the press, which they claim distorted the situation and falsely accused them of raping a captive.