Israel court orders PM’s son to pay $151,000 in defamation lawsuit

Israel’s Magistrate’s Court yesterday ordered Yair Netanyahu, son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to pay 500,000 shekels ($151,400) in a defamation lawsuit to Dana Cassidy, local media reported.

According to the Hebrew newspaper Maariv, the lawsuit was filed against Yair over false claims posted on Twitter that the Blue and White activist Dana Cassidy had an “intimate and sexual relationship” with party leader Benny Gantz.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the lawsuit was filed in August 2020, and the decision was made after Yair failed to file a letter of defence and did not accept the lawsuit.

He claimed that the lawsuit was “ridiculous, delusional and baseless.” He also described it as “nothing more than a publicity stunt.”

This is not the first time that Yair– who lives with his parents at the official Prime Minister’s residence – has made controversial statements.

Earlier this year, he posted an offensive picture of the Hindu goddess Durga to attack his father’s critics while last year he came under criticism after publishing several tweets denying the existence of Palestine because there is no “P” in the Arabic language.

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