Court hears Yair Netanyahu defamation case over alleged social media smears

Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court held a hearing on Monday in Yair Netanyahu’s defamation lawsuit against Prof. Avshalom Elitzur, filed through attorney Uriel Nazri. The case stems from Elitzur’s social media posts that, according to the suit, falsely attributed to Netanyahu a severe physical assault on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and behavior meant to harm his mother, Sara Netanyahu.

According to a report by Efrat Briner on Channel 14, the court appeared unwilling to accept Elitzur’s defense. In his testimony, Elitzur said MK Naama Lazimi did not amplify his posts and insisted the allegations were already widespread online at the time. “Naama Lazimi did not echo me,” he said. “I cannot describe how sorry I am about it myself. How unnecessary. The plaintiff is one of the most hated and vilified people. Around the plaintiff there is a lot of slander and foul language. What I said then was in the air everywhere.”

Judge Orna Sandler-Eitan interrupted him, saying, “With all due respect, sir, I live in Jerusalem and I did not hear that. The sentence you said is very troubling to me. Are you saying that, in your view, because the plaintiff is a slandered person, that gives permission to slander him?”

After her remark, Elitzur suggested ending the case with a financial settlement, but then added a veiled warning to the prosecution team about continuing the proceedings and possibly calling negative character witnesses against the prime minister’s son: “I started by expressing regret. I am sorry I published the things and I apologized. This could have been finished for a reasonable sum. I hope they will not drag us into bringing people here who will testify and certainly will not testify favorably about the plaintiff.” Sandler-Eitan again reprimanded him, saying he sounded both sorry and threatening. The judge then urged the sides to settle, and they went out to consult. Elitzur agreed to apologize, but the parties did not reach agreement on the compensation amount.