Due to a statement on "The Patriots": Channel 14 will pay 25,000 shekels to Barak Cohen

Advocate Barak Cohen announced yesterday on social media that the court ordered Channel 14 to pay him compensation in the amount of 20,000 shekels for defamation. According to him, the remarks for which the compensation was awarded were made by Yehuda Schlesinger on the program "The Patriots". In addition to the compensation, Channel 14 was ordered to pay him 5,000 shekels for legal costs. In total, the amount the channel must pay is 25,000 shekels.

Cohen added that at the end of August, he will return to activity for the end of the long and painful tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At the same time, a verdict was reached today in the defamation lawsuit filed by Channel 14 against journalist Chaim Levinson, following a tweet he published against the channel in June 2021. The Magistrate's Court in Tel Aviv accepted the lawsuit and ruled that Levinson must pay the channel 10,000 shekels as compensation, without proof of damage, and an additional 20,000 shekels for legal costs and attorney fees. The lawsuit was originally filed for the sum of 141,181 shekels after Levinson called the channel a "propaganda channel". The verdict stated that the remarks exceeded the bounds of permissible satirical criticism and had the potential to damage the reputation. Levinson is required to pay the full amount within 30 days, while he has the right to appeal within 60 days.