Jerusalem Court Rejects Rothman's NIS 1.09 Million Libel Suit

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court rejected MK Simcha Rothman's NIS 1,091,300 libel suit against journalist Guy Peleg and the other defendants. Deputy President Oren Silberman ruled that attributing the disputed statement to Rothman was defamatory, but the defendants proved the truth-in-publication defense. Ministry of Justice staff who attended the closed meeting gave testimony the court found credible and objective, while a contemporaneous meeting memo supported their accounts. The court said the statement concerned a matter of clear public interest and declined to award costs because of unusual procedural conduct by all sides.