Sara Netanyahu Ordered to Pay NIS 10,000 in Defamation Lawsuit

A Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court has dismissed a defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit filed by Sara Netanyahu in 2020 against Silvi Genzia, a former employee of the Prime Minister's residence. Judge Ilan Ronan ruled in favor of Genzia, upholding her defenses of "truth spoke" and good faith, and ordered Netanyahu to pay 10,000 shekels in legal expenses. This marks the third ruling in the case, as two previous judgments were overturned due to the disappearance of Genzia's former legal representative.

Netanyahu had claimed in her lawsuit that Genzia was a "plant" funded by political actors to harm the Prime Minister before an election through false media publications. Judge Ronan completely rejected these claims, finding that the accumulated evidence supported the employee's version of events. The judge stated that Genzia's allegations depicted Netanyahu as having misused her position, treated Genzia rudely, and caused her distress. The court concluded that Netanyahu did indeed treat Genzia inappropriately, dismissively, and humiliatingly, and that Genzia's claims in the publications were true.

The court further noted that the overall picture presented of Netanyahu was disturbing, and that Genzia was not the first employee to accuse Netanyahu of abusive behavior towards residence staff. Genzia was represented pro bono by attorney Shaul Ida, who took over the case after the previous attorney, Ofir Samson, was ordered to pay 20,000 shekels for failing to file summations.

Attorney Ida commented that the "judicial torture" lasting over six years had ended, asserting that the case was a "silencing lawsuit" by a powerful individual against a household employee. He added that it was proven once again that Sara Netanyahu is a problematic person and that the repeated claims by many former employees over the years are accurate.

This ruling adds to a history of legal disputes involving Sara Netanyahu and former staff of the Prime Minister's residence. Previous labor court rulings awarded significant compensation to former employees who alleged abusive treatment. These civil cases occur concurrently with the ongoing criminal proceedings against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sara Netanyahu's own past conviction in the "Residences Affair" in 2019, where she was found guilty of exploiting a mistake for personal gain regarding expenses for the official residence.