Yair Golan threatens NIS 2.5 million defamation lawsuit against Sara Netanyahu

Yair Golan, chairman of Israel’s Democrats party and a retired IDF major general, sent Sara Netanyahu a formal notice on Monday threatening legal action over comments she made during an interview with Channel 14.

Golan alleges that the prime minister’s wife defamed him by insinuating that he may have known in advance about the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. During the interview, she questioned how Golan had arrived in southern Israel so early that morning.

“When you are an officer of such a high rank and you claim to have fought on October 7, you were already there early in the morning, dressed and prepared,” she said.

Asked about theories that the attack involved betrayal from within Israel, Netanyahu replied: “I don’t want to discuss it. I don’t know. A genuine commission of inquiry should be established.”

In the warning letter, sent through attorneys Giora Erdinst, Almog Gil-Or and Jordan Shohat of the EBN law firm, Golan demands that Netanyahu issue a “public and unequivocal” apology within 24 hours. He also asks her to agree to pay compensation, which he says would be donated in full to survivors of the Nova music festival.

The letter states that if Netanyahu does not apologize and agree to compensation, Golan will file a defamation lawsuit seeking at least NIS 2.5 million.

Golan’s proposed apology reads: “I retract the remarks I made during my Channel 14 interview concerning Mr. Yair Golan. Those remarks were baseless and false. Mr. Golan went to the Gaza border area on October 7 and, at great personal risk, rescued young people who had fled the Nova music festival. Like the rest of Israel’s citizens, Mr. Golan learned of the Hamas attack when the first sirens sounded at 6:29 am. He then decided to take action and went south to assist.”

According to the timeline provided by Golan’s lawyers, he learned of the attack when the first sirens sounded at 6:29 am. He left home in his private vehicle and drove to the Home Front Command headquarters, where he obtained an assault rifle, before continuing toward the Gaza border area.

The lawyers say Golan repeatedly entered areas near the border where people fleeing the Nova festival had sought refuge. They state that he rescued six people while risking his own life.

The letter describes Netanyahu’s comments as “false and defamatory” and alleges that they were intended to portray Golan as “an accomplice to an act of treason.” His lawyers also claim that the remarks were part of an attempt to damage his reputation ahead of the elections.

“Our client will not surrender to an attempt to erase the heroism of IDF soldiers, members of local defense units, civilians and volunteers by rewriting history,” they wrote.

Responding to the controversy, Golan accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political camp of attempting to divert attention from the failures that preceded the October 7 attack.

“They are trying to rewrite October 7 in order to erase Netanyahu’s responsibility for the greatest failure in the history of the state,” Golan said. “To do that, they are trying to portray those who rose to defend the country as traitors, while presenting those who funded Hamas and abandoned Israel’s security as victims.”

“This is not merely an attack against me,” he continued. “It is an attack against an entire community of soldiers, volunteers and civilians who stepped forward when the Netanyahu government collapsed.”

Golan also pledged to establish a state commission of inquiry that would investigate the events surrounding October 7 and determine responsibility for the failures that allowed the attack to occur.