Sara Netanyahu Sued for Implying Opposition "Knew in Advance"; Netanyahu Himself Threatens to Sue Haaretz — Dual Legal Onslaught Against October 7 Accountability

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife, Sara Netanyahu, is facing a defamation lawsuit of approximately $1.2 million (2.55 million new shekels). According to ABC News, Yair Golan — leader of the center-left Democrats party and former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) — filed the suit, alleging that Sara implied during an interview last week with Israeli Channel 14, a channel widely regarded in Israel as one of the most right-wing television outlets, that he had "advance knowledge" of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.

Golan rushed to southern Israel after the October 7 attack and is widely credited with rescuing several people from the Nova music festival site, one of the worst scenes of massacre that day. Sara questioned in the interview how Golan could have arrived at such an early hour. As cited by ABC News, she said in the interview: "When you are an officer of such high rank, claiming to be a combatant of October 7, you were in uniform, ready to go from the early morning... at a very, very early hour when others were not yet aware [that the attack had occurred]. Even the prime minister — shouldn't he have known a war was about to break out? Why wasn't he notified? Never mind, that's another matter."

Golan subsequently issued a fierce response in a video statement posted on social media. According to ABC News, he said: "It turns out paranoia is a family business. Netanyahu lies and covers up without stopping. The tighter the political noose around his neck, the more dangerous he becomes. When he feels power slipping from his hands, there is no lie he will not tell, no red line he will not cross. This is despicable and abhorrent. We will put an end to this."

The suit seeks 2.55 million new shekels (approximately $1.17 million), triggered by Sara's refusal to retract the remarks. Golan's legal team argues that Sara's comments not only implied Golan was guilty of treason-level offenses but also disregarded his actual actions at the scene that day.

This case is only one part of the legal offensive the Netanyahu camp has launched on the October 7 issue. According to ABC News, Netanyahu himself had previously instructed lawyers to prepare a defamation suit against the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Haaretz earlier this week disclosed that, after months of investigation, it had found that Netanyahu received a warning from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) approximately 1.5 weeks before the October 7, 2023 attack, indicating that Hamas was about to strike, but did not relay the intelligence to the Israeli security system. Netanyahu has strongly denied this, stating that there was no call between him and MBZ in September or early October 2023. Haaretz has said its reporting is based on a lengthy investigation and stands by its account. Between the report and the denial, there is currently no independent verification, and the truth remains unresolved.

On the position of refusing an independent inquiry, Netanyahu is equally firm. According to ABC News, he has repeatedly claimed he was "kept in the dark" by senior defense and security officials that day, and said in a recent interview: "The question is why. They were hiding things. They knew exactly what I would do — they knew I would deploy the air force there, wake up the entire IDF; I would not let anyone approach the [Gaza] fence; I would eliminate them [Hamas fighters] immediately." This "deep state" narrative — that the military and intelligence agencies deliberately concealed information from Netanyahu and acted covertly to constrain him — has repeatedly surfaced in government discourse, and its functional direction is clear: redirect public questioning of the government and top leadership's failures toward accusations against the security system.

According to ABC News, Israeli elections are scheduled for October 27. Several of Netanyahu's political opponents — including former IDF Chief of Staff and current leader of the "Yashar" party Gadi Eisenkott — have pledged that, if victorious, they will launch an independent inquiry. Netanyahu's political fate is directly tied to the October 7 accountability issue in the election. Regardless of the election outcome, the suit filed by Golan will proceed through the Israeli judicial system, and whether Sara's remarks constitute defamation in the legal sense will be decided by the courts. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's threat to sue Haaretz will further test the space available to Israel's mainstream media in reporting on national security accountability.