Netanyahu Testifies in Libel Suit Over Health Rumors

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu testified Thursday at the Tel Aviv District Court in his defamation lawsuit against three men: Maariv commentator Ben Caspit, protest activist and lawyer Gonen Ben Yitzhak, and Haaretz journalist Uri Misgav. Netanyahu is seeking 500,000 shekels for publications he says damaged him. The case is being heard by Judge Menachem Mizrahi. Netanyahu had begun testifying about a month earlier, but that session was cut short after he said he had to leave because of other obligations.

According to the lawsuit, Ben Yitzhak posted on X that he had been told Netanyahu was being treated for pancreatic cancer and should publicly reveal his true condition. The filing says Misgav published several posts, including remarks about Netanyahu’s appearance and medication, and wrote that Netanyahu had visited Hadassah Ein Kerem and Mayanei HaYeshua hospitals. As for Caspit, the suit says he wrote about an alleged meeting between Netanyahu and Amiram Levin, who was said to have been shocked and to believe Netanyahu was unfit and dangerous to the state. Netanyahu says no such meeting took place, and that is why he sued.

During cross-examination by Misgav’s lawyer, Tali Leiblich, Netanyahu was pressed on his claims that the posts said he had terminal cancer. She told him Misgav had not written that he had pancreatic cancer or that he was terminally ill. Netanyahu answered, “I deny it.” When she asked him to point to the relevant passage in the statement of claim, Judge Mizrahi said he would not allow Netanyahu to read it in court.

Netanyahu also rejected allegations about his cognitive state after a video was shown of him stumbling over words. He said such slips happen to many people and argued that his many speeches, cabinet meetings, and public appearances disproved claims that he was impaired. He also dismissed criticism over calling his son Avner “Avraham,” and laughed off a 60 Minutes report describing him as tired and disheveled. Leiblich argued that Netanyahu did not seem to know his own lawsuit well, and he later said the medical documents he submitted to the court include a description of his condition, citing a prostate operation and another surgery for a small lesion.