Yair Golan sues Sara Netanyahu over Oct 7 claim

Israeli opposition politician Yair Golan said Thursday he had filed a libel lawsuit against Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after she suggested he had prior knowledge of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

Golan, a former deputy military chief of staff who leads Israel's centre-left Democrats party, said the lawsuit was for defamation and incitement to violence.

In a late August interview with Israel's right-wing Channel 14, Sara Netanyahu said Golan was “already dressed and ready” at dawn on October 7, “while others knew nothing, including the prime minister”.

Golan is seeking 2.5 million shekels, about $822,000, in damages and wants Sara Netanyahu to retract her statement, according to the lawsuit document.

The dispute comes during Israel's election campaign, in which the October 7 attack remains a central issue.

Sara Netanyahu's remarks prompted responses from Israelis who praised Golan's actions that day, when he spontaneously joined efforts to push back the attack using his personal weapon.

The October 7, 2023 attack killed 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also took 251 hostages into Gaza, 44 of them already dead.

Israel's offensive in Gaza in response has killed 73,670 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.