Right-Wing Activist Ordered to Pay Former IDF Spokesperson Damages for Defamation

A Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court has ordered right-wing activist Ran Karmi Buzaglo to pay former IDF spokesperson Avi Benayahu NIS 80,000 in damages for defamation, plus NIS 23,600 in legal fees and expenses. The ruling stems from three posts Buzaglo published in January 2025, during the ongoing war, which accused Benayahu of being "filth" and questioned whether he had "informed on (also) the soldier arrested in Brazil."

These publications were a response to Benayahu's prior post complaining about a decline in discipline within the IDF. Benayahu's complaint followed an incident where Brigadier General (Res.) Shlomo Cohen was attacked at a football stadium by two uniformed soldiers whose arm patches bore a square with a king's crown and the word "Mashiach," a symbol associated with the Chabad organization. Cohen had reportedly reprimanded the soldiers before the attack.

Simultaneously, a court in Brazil ordered an investigation into an IDF soldier present in the country on suspicion of war crimes in Gaza. Benayahu had shared a photo of the soldiers' arm patches and criticized the IDF, stating, "Alongside important military successes, something bad is happening in the IDF, and the senior command, which has in part lost authority since December 7th, is failing to cope. An army without orders and discipline will not survive."

In response, Buzaglo shared Benayahu's post on Facebook and X, alleging he is a former Golani Brigade fighter and officer who was severely wounded and rescued wounded soldiers. Buzaglo also claimed Benayahu's lawsuit was a vexatious attempt to silence him. However, Judge Aviam Barkai ruled that Buzaglo's publications, spread across three posts and two social media platforms, were more likely to stifle free discourse. The court found that a reasonable person exposed to Buzaglo's attacks might refrain from speaking out for fear of becoming a target themselves.

The court determined that Buzaglo's insinuation that Benayahu informed on the soldier arrested in Brazil constituted defamation, as a reasonable reader would understand it to mean Benayahu acted to report and harm the photographed soldiers, potentially causing damage to the IDF soldier detained in Brazil. The judge emphasized the timing, noting that during the ongoing war, portraying Benayahu as someone who betrays soldiers constitutes a claim that harms national security. Buzaglo's defense of acting in good faith was rejected, and he was found not to be protected by law. The court did, however, rule that while the term "filth" was ugly, it did not constitute defamation in this context.