Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu testified Thursday morning at Tel Aviv District Court in a libel suit he filed against journalists Uri Misgav and Ben Caspit, and against attorney Gonen Ben Yitzhak. The case concerns publications about Netanyahu’s medical condition and the cancer diagnosis he says were filled with false and serious claims.
During cross-examination, attorney Tal Liblech confronted Netanyahu with his claim that he had sued people who wrote that he was terminally ill. She noted that Misgav had not written that Netanyahu had pancreatic cancer, cancer in general, or a terminal illness. Judge Mizrahi cut off the argument and told the sides to move on. Netanyahu said he had prepared by "the truth" and then lashed out at Misgav, calling him obsessive and accusing him of repeatedly lying and distorting facts.
Netanyahu said reports had also falsely claimed he had metastases. He insisted that in 2024 he had no cancer in the prostate or elsewhere, and that the tumor found in his case had been removed with no metastases. Liblech replied that Misgav had not written those claims. Later, when asked about his appearance in a "60 Minutes" interview, Netanyahu reacted with a terse "Wow," after Liblech described him as very tired and disheveled.
The testimony also covered his hospital visits and whether he entered them secretly. Netanyahu said that in most cases he did, and said security services change methods because Iran seeks to kill him and his family. He argued that publishing his location, his wife’s location, or his son’s location helps enemies target them. Asked why he defined Misgav as a "radical" figure, Netanyahu said it was because of efforts to spread his and his family’s locations worldwide. He repeatedly mocked the allegations as the work of "a conspiracy cult," saying, "What can I do that I do not have pancreatic cancer?"
