Rabbi Eliyahu Zini Settles Defamation Lawsuit Against Haaretz Out of Court

Rabbi Eliyahu Zini, uncle of Shin Bet chief David Zini, filed a defamation lawsuit against the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and two of its journalists, which has now been resolved through mediation outside of court. The parties recently informed the court that they reached an agreement, making further legal proceedings unnecessary. The lawsuit, initiated in January, sought 500,000 shekels in damages along with a public correction and denial.

Rabbi Zini claimed that Haaretz falsely attributed to him authorship of an article in the book "Baruch HaGever" and involvement in the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre, as well as expressing positions he never held. He argued these false claims were part of a defamation campaign aimed at harming his family’s reputation following his nephew David Zini’s appointment as head of Shin Bet. The lawsuit stated that Rabbi Zini’s name does not appear among the book’s authors and that a brief halachic opinion he wrote in 1995 was included by the editors without connection to the massacre.

The suit further alleged that these false reports were cited and amplified in other media and social networks as factual. Rabbi Zini denied that the defendants had any valid defenses such as truth or good faith. After the mediation process, the parties agreed to settle, ending the case without a court ruling or further examination.

This resolution closes a high-profile defamation dispute involving a prominent religious figure and a major Israeli newspaper, reflecting tensions linked to national security leadership appointments.