Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s medical file will not be shared with the defendants of his defamation lawsuit – journalists Ben Caspit, Uri Misgav, and attorney Gonen Ben Itzhak – Judge Menahem Mizrahi ruled on Tuesday.
At the request of the prime minister’s attorney, Uriel Nizri, the medical records were submitted for the court’s review only.
Mizrahi ruled that the 43 documents in Netanyahu’s medical file (dating between 2022 and 2025) will remain in the court’s possession.
After receiving a reprimand from the court for delaying the submission, the prime minister handed over the required documents earlier this week in a sealed envelope, as per his lawyer’s request.
Mizrahi, presiding over the defamation case concerning Netanyahu’s health condition, determined that the medical records do not contain evidence relevant to the dispute at hand.
השופט מנחם מזרחי, במילים מנומסות, כותב שלאחר שעיין בתיקו הרפואי של נתניהו, הגיע למסקנה שהטענות של גונן בן יצחק ואורי משגב שנתניהו חולה בסרטן הלבלב הן בלבול מוח. pic.twitter.com/3trpGFPu7i
— אבישי גרינצייג (@avishaigrinzaig) March 4, 2025
Details of the lawsuit
The prime minister filed the libel suit against Caspit, Misgav, and Ben Itzhak in May 2024.
The lawsuit alleged that Ben Itzhak, the primary defendant, and Misgav had made claims about Netanyahu’s health, including Ben Itzhak stating that the prime minister had pancreatic cancer and Misgav saying he was in poor health.
A few weeks before the lawsuit was filed, Ben Itzhak published a tweet directed at Netanyahu: “Following your visit last night to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, I received information that you were treated for pancreatic cancer.
“I wish you good health, but it is appropriate for the man who leads the system to courageously face the public and disclose his true condition. You are sending our children to war, and if you are indeed undergoing oncological treatment, there are grave implications. Your health, in this sense, is not a private or personal matter. Reveal the truth about your condition to the public now.”
Bini Aschkenasy contributed to this report.