The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court today (Sunday) accepted the defamation lawsuit filed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara against Yigal Sarna, for a post he published on his Facebook page - and ruled that the journalist will compensate Prime Minister Netanyahu with 60,000 NIS and his wife Sara with 40,000 NIS.
The court also ordered Serena, a journalist at Yedioth Ahronoth, to pay a fee of 15,000 shekels, in addition to paying the couple's lawyers' fees, in the amount of 15,000 shekels.
According to the verdict, "the defendant's publications were malicious and ugly, intended to shame and humiliate the plaintiffs.".
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The couple filed the lawsuit after Serena wrote on Facebook that Sara Netanyahu ordered her husband to get out of their shared car while they were driving on Highway 1.
In the lawsuit, the two demanded compensation of 279,000 shekels from Serana, who frequently attacked the couple on his Facebook page, for defamation.
Judge Azaria Alkalai wrote in the ruling: "This is not a publication that constitutes an expression of opinion, but rather a publication that is intended to be factual and therefore constitutes defamation, even taking into account that the plaintiffs are public figures.".
He said, "Although the plaintiff is a prime minister, a very powerful person, the defendant is not a weak and poor person either, but a reputable and outspoken journalist who writes regularly in the newspaper 'Yediot Aharonot', and until the current publication, Netanyahu has not sued him or tried to silence him. It cannot be said that this is a baseless and hopeless lawsuit intended to deter.".
The judge noted that Sarna's refusal to bring the head of the Shin Bet to testify worked to his detriment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the ruling against journalist Yigal Sarna, saying: "Finally, justice has been done.".
In response to the ruling, Sarna said: "I will say this to all those concerned - this is an expected ruling in these dark days. But this is just the beginning of the struggle against the silencing claim, against the silencing of the security apparatus and against the general silencing that is descending upon us. If I were the Netanyahu couple, I would really not rush to purchase a new cooking stove. We are on our way to the next court.".
Attorney Lior Epstein, who represents Serena, told the GLC: "We will consider appealing. There is no legal 'knockout' here and the discussion was not at all about the truth of the advertisement, but about the issue of the advertisement on Facebook":
