Bennett sues former ally, now a Likud minister, for libel over claim he is mentally unwell

Religious Zionism MK, right-wing TV channel are also included in suit for spreading Idit Silman’s comments asserting Bennett was heavily medicated, unstable during his time as PM

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett filed a defamation suit Thursday against Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, Religious Zionism MK Ohad Tal and Channel 14 for NIS 2 million ($690,000) on Thursday, accusing them of making and publishing “grave falsehoods” that constitute libel.

The lawsuit centers around a recording of Silman, formerly a member of Bennett’s now-defunct Yamina party, who served as coalition whip during his 2021-2022 government, in which she claims that Bennett was mentally unstable and heavily medicated while serving as prime minister.

The recording was aired on Monday by the conservative pro-government Channel 14, and then circulated further by Tal, a member of Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, which got its start within Bennett’s Yamina alliance but which split off in January 2021.

Bennett has denied the allegations, charging in his libel suit that Silman made up the accusation to justify abandoning Yamina, toppling the previous government and throwing her lot in with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud.

In the recording, Silman can be heard telling a group of activists that throughout his short-lived premiership, Bennett “did not function,” and was constantly “confused and stuttering.”

“In my opinion, in general, he was in a really, really poor mental state — everyone around him knew,” she asserted.

“Everyone around him knew about it,” Silman reiterated. “They would bring him pills in all kinds of red boxes, just so that he could function.”

She further claimed that for the duration of Bennett’s brief term, the Prime Minister’s Office was actually run by then-alternate prime minister Yair Lapid and his team.

Silman’s remarks come as politicians and hopeful candidates begin warming up for this year’s elections, which are to be held no later than October 27.

Bennett, who took a break from politics after the collapse of his government, is seen by many as the main challenger to Netanyahu’s leadership. He announced last week that he was reviving his political alliance with Lapid’s Yesh Atid party under the banner “Together – Led by Naftali Bennett.”

Following the Channel 14 broadcast, Tal sent mocking well-wishes to Bennett on X and claimed that his decision to bring the Islamist Ra’am party into his coalition was clearly the result of a mental illness.

“Yesterday we discovered that Naftali Bennett is taking psychiatric medication while hiding it from the public,” he wrote. “Now it is understandable how an Israeli citizen was willing to sell the country to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas for the prime minister’s seat. Get well soon Naftali.”

He later deleted the post amid fierce backlash and apologized on Wednesday for his remarks, although not to Bennett.

“The connection between mental illness and selling the country to Hamas supporters, which I did not intend to make but was definitely implied by my words, was inappropriate, and for that I apologize and ask for forgiveness,” wrote the Religious Zionism lawmaker.

It was unclear whether he deleted the post before or after Bennett filed the defamation lawsuit.

In the suit, Bennett asserted that he has “never taken any medication for his mental functioning,” and accused Silman of making up the claim to justify having abandoned his party, thereby collapsing his government, and to “try and save her fading political career.”

“The defendants published serious lies about the plaintiff that never happened. These are cheap and wild slanders that a desperate politician is inventing to mislead the public regarding the plaintiff’s mental state,” the lawsuit stated.

In response to the lawsuit, Silman suggested on X that Bennett should “maybe take a chill pill.”

“I understand that the polls are stressful,” she sniped.

Silman resigned from the Bennett-Lapid coalition government in April 2022, less than a year after it was formed, taking its razor-thin majority with her, and contributing to the growing list of crises that ultimately led to its dissolution in June of that year.

She said at the time that she was leaving the government in opposition to policies she said were “harming the Jewish identity of the State of Israel.”

Despite having been a frequent target of a monthslong online Likud campaign against Yamina, Silman joined the party ahead of the November 2022 election and has been an outspoken supporter of Netanyahu ever since.