The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan on Tuesday sent a warning letter to Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of legal action demanding that she issue a public apology within 24 hours or face a NIS 2.5 million lawsuit for “defamation in its most serious form.”
The letter also demanded that Sara Netanyahu, in addition to issuing the apology, make a donation to survivors of the Supernova music festival.
Golan sent the letter after Sara Netanyahu suggested in a Channel 14 interview on Monday evening that the left-wing party leader had prior knowledge of the October 7, 2023, attacks, echoing conspiracy theories that alleged betrayal, without providing evidence for the claim.
On the morning of October 7, Golan put on his uniform and traveled South from his home in central Israel to where the Supernova music festival was taking place to rescue those under attack by Hamas terrorists.
During the Monday interview, Sara Netanyahu’s comments indicated that Golan knew about the attacks beforehand. She said, “When you are a military officer of such a high rank and claim that you fought on October 7, you were already there early in the morning, already dressed and prepared; at a very early hour, when others did not know, such as the prime minister,” she continued.
“In general, who is the prime minister who needs to know that a war is breaking out? Why inform him?” she added.
Golan demands apology from Sara Netanyahu
The apology that Golan has demanded from her reads as follows:
“I retract the statements I made in my interview with Channel 14 regarding Yair Golan, which were nothing more than false and baseless nonsense. Mr. Golan went to the Gaza border area on October 7 armed only with his weapon and, while risking his life, saved young people from the Nova music festival. Mr. Golan, like all Israeli citizens, learned of the Hamas attack when the first sirens sounded at 6:29 a.m. on October 7 and, as a result, decided to act and went into the field.”
Golan also said: “They are trying to rewrite October 7 in order to erase Netanyahu’s responsibility for the greatest failure in the country’s history.”
He added, “To do so, they are trying to turn those who rose to defend the country into traitors, and those who funded Hamas and abandoned national security into victims.”
He also vowed to establish a state commission of inquiry to investigate government failures during the attacks.
By press time on Tuesday, Sara Netanyahu had not issued an apology. Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party said in a statement following the demand for the letter that “contrary to the left-wing media’s manipulation of public consciousness, Sara Netanyahu never claimed there was a conspiracy surrounding October 7. In the interview, she said the exact opposite.”
The Democrats party, in response to the Likud statement, doubled down on its leader’s warning, stating, “You have 20 hours left to apologize, and 56 days left to pack up and leave the Prime Minister’s Residence.”
Opposition leaders condemn Sara Netanyahu's comments
Other opposition party leaders in the bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu in the elections condemned Sara Netanyahu’s statements.
Prime ministerial candidate and chairman of the Yashar party Gadi Eisenkot said that “the outrageous conspiracy theory of treason, which has no factual basis and was spread last night by the prime minister’s wife, is intended only to incite hatred and perpetuate Netanyahu’s rule.”
Eisenkot added, “The only way Netanyahu knows how to govern is by dividing people. Netanyahu is running away from responsibility for the most terrible failure in Israel’s history, the failure he led us toward through blindness, inaction, and disregard for every warning sign.”
Netanyahu clarified on Tuesday his wife’s remarks in a post on Instagram, saying that “there was no betrayal on October 7; there was a failure.”
In response, Golan lashed out at Netanyahu, claiming his comments were “not an apology, but an attempt to minimize the damage.”
"You 'don't think,' Bibi? You know very well that there was no betrayal,” he said. “On October 7th, we went out to save lives while you froze. A true leader doesn't hesitate in the face of blood libels; he apologizes to the soldiers and condemns the lies that came from within.”