Court Orders Barak Seri to Pay Gideon Sa'ar NIS 18,000 for Defamation

Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court ordered political commentator Barak Seri to pay Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar NIS 18,000 after finding three publications about Sa'ar's London trip defamatory. Judge Roi Shahar ruled that Seri presented as fact the claim that public funds financed a family vacation, while the evidence showed Sa'ar paid for the flights and lodging. The court rejected Seri's truth, good-faith and strategic-lawsuit defenses, awarding NIS 6,000 for each publication. Gaula Even Sa'ar's parallel claim was dismissed because the statements targeted her husband's conduct as a minister, and each side was ordered to bear its own costs.