Channel 12’s Defamation Suit Against Eli Tzipori Sparks Debate Over Media Criticism

News 12’s decision to file a NIS 3 million defamation lawsuit against independent journalist Eli Tzipori has triggered a broader public argument over how far criticism of the media can go. In mediation, the sides reached an agreement with the force of a court judgment, under which Tzipori must stop using the nickname “Al Jazeera 12.” Tzipori, however, said he will continue sharply criticizing the channel, using other labels such as “the channel of defamation, incitement and poison.”

The dispute is tied to other large lawsuits News 12 has filed against Tzipori, as well as against media figures Yinon Magal and Noam Fathi and celebrity Natalie Dadon, after they called the channel’s broadcast of a Sde Teiman video a “blood libel.” They argued the footage, in which Guy Peleg was heard referring to “an act of sodomy under rape circumstances,” presented allegations that never happened and caused severe damage to Israel’s image abroad, including claims that it helped influence a UN report placing Israel among countries whose soldiers commit sexual crimes.

According to the article, the criminal case against the soldiers of the Force 100 unit was dropped, the military advocate general who approved the leak of the video is expected to stand trial, and News 12 itself faces additional NIS millions in claims from Force 100 soldiers who say the broadcast harmed them. The mediation deal, the article stresses, binds only the parties involved and does not create a general ban on the public using the phrase “Al Jazeera 12.”

The piece says Israeli law gives broad protection to opinions on public matters and has previously allowed harsh, even insulting political speech. It cites a 2023 Supreme Court ruling in the “Hozeh Hadash” case, where a statement calling Minister Miki Zohar “a senior soldier in Netanyahu’s crime organization” was treated as a lawful opinion.

The article also places the feud in the context of News 12’s declining public standing. Once seen as Israel’s central “campfire” channel and identified with Yotam Levi? No, with Yonit Levi and Danny Kushmaro as mainstream symbols, it now faces growing competition from Channel 14 and i24NEWS, while its ratings have weakened and “Ulpan Shishi” recently fell to single-digit ratings. The author argues that relying on massive defamation suits reflects the channel’s loss of status and that its standing should be judged by the public, not the courts.