Israeli court fines Netanyahu’s son for defaming female activist

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – An Israeli court on Wednesday ordered the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pay a fine for defaming a female activist.

The Kfar Saba Magistrate Court in central Israel ruled that Yair Netanyahu pays 130,000 shekels ($34,000) in compensation for Dana Kashdi for posting on his social media accounts alleging that she had an affair with opposition leader Benny Gantz, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported.

The incident took place during the 2020 parliamentary elections campaign.

Yair Netanyahu is known for making controversial posts on his social media accounts when it comes to criticism of his father's opponents.

He, however, insists that his tweets about Kashdi were innocent and did not imply to have extramarital relation with Gantz.

"It is appropriate for every person, and especially for the son of the prime minister of Israel, whose number of followers as mentioned is very large, to demonstrate self-restraint and caution in statements and publications," the court said.

There was no comment yet from Yair Netanyahu about the court verdict.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar