National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Otzma Yehudit party filed a defamation lawsuit for 200,000 ILS against former Defense Minister Moshe “Bogey” Ya’alon, over a comment on a Ha”aretz podcast: “I see the “Death to Arabs” slogans of Itamar Ben-Gvir, and the group that follows him.
The statement of claim, which was submitted to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, through attorney Yishai Gisfan, reads: “This is defamation with the intention of harming the plaintiff. These sayings attribute to the plaintiff both support for the idea of “death to the Arabs” and his actual expression through chants of “death to the Arabs” or support for them, when according to the false claim, such a “gang” is following the plaintiff, when this claim is based on a lie.”

“Expressing criticism and opinion towards the plaintiff is acceptable and appropriate, but the gap between freedom of expression and telling such lies about the plaintiff in a way that actually hurts him and the plaintiff is unacceptable. In this regard, it will be emphasized and made clear that the plaintiff repeatedly emphasizes at every opportunity that he does not include all Arabs, and that he advocates the death penalty for terrorists as opposed to all Arabs.”
“The defendant’s false publications are not consistent with reality,” it added. “The defendant does not hesitate to speak falsely and does not recoil from any means to achieve his goals, nor does he take to heart the degree of harm that the other party suffered from his actions.”
Attorney Gisfan adds and points out that “the plaintiffs were directly harmed by the defendant’s advertisements, which aimed to harm the plaintiffs, besmirch their names and bias public opinion against them. He did this in a systematic way, with thought and intent to hurt.”
“If the failed former MK Ya’alon thinks that the immunity granted to him by the Knesset is eternal – he is making a bitter mistake. Yaalon’s collection of lies and defamations will have a price. The days are over when the extreme left tells lies about the right-wing elected officials and they remain silent. We will meet in court,” said Ben-Gvir.