Netali Shem Tov vs. News 13: Legal Dispute Escalates Publicly
Former News 13 presenter Netali Shem Tov has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging defamation. In response, employees' committee chair Matan Hodorov rejected the claims, calling them baseless.
Netali Shem Tov, a former senior presenter at News 13, continues to update her followers on social media regarding the progress of her legal dispute with her former employer.
Recently, the journalist announced that she had filed a lawsuit against News 13, revealing details about the upcoming hearing and the "slanderous words" she claims are being spread against her. "Their strategy is to paint me as problematic, such as by saying I ran a 'recording factory' of everyone who worked with me. The truth is that there are 12 recordings in this file from two whole years, the vast majority of them being of the CEO, when I already understood she was trying to get rid of me for non-professional reasons," she wrote.
Matan Hodorov, an economic commentator and chairman of the News 13 employees' committee, addressed the criticism and responded to her claims on X. "I am careful not to express myself on the legal matters of employees, even former ones, but in response to such public slander, it is appropriate to set a few things straight," he wrote.
Hodorov emphasized that the struggle against the appointment of Shamalov-Berkovich as CEO was based on her lack of journalistic experience, not her political views. "The committee under my leadership never called for or acted to boycott a journalist. Even the plaintiff knew how to turn to the committee for protection of her program, and never before was there a claim that the response was tainted by political bias. Any other hint is simply slander pulled out of thin air."
He further noted: "The committee did not 'bring a CEO to the company' but cooperates as usual with the journalist chosen by the board. The current CEO is anything but a 'puppet,' and the performance improvement procedures initiated by management are certainly not intended to please the committee."
Concluding his statement, Hodorov left the final judgment to the court but criticized the former presenter's approach: "I do not understand why, while the case is being clarified, there was a need to throw mud at those who have been representing News 13 employees for years in very difficult situations."
