Right-wing activist who lost to Shikma Bressler sued for millions: "They are silencing me"

Fani Michaeli, a mother of two soldiers, has found herself in recent months at the center of a legal battle following posts she uploaded to social media after the events of October 7. After the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court accepted the libel lawsuit filed against her by Shikma Bressler, she is now also facing another lawsuit for millions of shekels.

In the lawsuit filed by Bressler, for the sum of 600,000 shekels, it was claimed that Michaeli published serious allegations against her, including accusations of treason, aiding Hamas, and prior knowledge of the massacre. The court determined that these were publications constituting libel, and that Michaeli did not prove the truth of the claims she raised.

Michaeli was ordered to pay Bressler 100,000 shekels, as well as 35,000 shekels for attorney fees and 5,500 shekels in court costs. In addition, the court ordered her to delete the posts and publish an apology and clarification notice within a month.

Michaeli argued in her defense that this was a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) and that her freedom of speech should be protected, but these arguments were rejected in the verdict. Following the ruling, activists in the right-wing camp began promoting fundraising campaigns to assist her.

However, Bressler's lawsuit is not the only proceeding Michaeli is dealing with. The organization "Brothers and Sisters in Arms" filed a lawsuit against her in 2024 for 2.6 million shekels, following 6 posts in which she referred to the organization and its activists with harsh expressions.

Michaeli argued in her statement of defense that this was a lawsuit intended to silence her and harm her freedom of speech. Among other things, she claimed that some of the posts attributed to her did not refer to the organization and its senior officials at all, but to an organization called "Brothers in Arms." She even filed a counter-lawsuit following posts in which she was defined, according to her, as a "cog in the poison machine."

Now, in an interview with Ido Tauber on Channel 14, Michaeli described dealing with the legal proceedings and their consequences on her life. According to her, after the verdict in the Bressler case, the total amount she is required to bear reaches about 210,000 shekels.

"It penetrates every good part of the house, financially, mentally, and emotionally. I am trying to pick myself up from this difficulty," she said.

Appearing alongside her was Amalia Ezer, who is also dealing with legal proceedings from "Brothers and Sisters in Arms." Ezer claimed that the lawsuits against right-wing activists are part of a trend intended, according to her, to deter activists from expressing positions online.

"There is a desire here to castrate the discourse on the right, to silence the right from expressing its opinion," Ezer claimed, adding that in her opinion, the lawsuits are used as a tool to create a "chilling effect." Ezer even established the "Freedom of Speech War Room" and initiated a crowdfunding campaign for Michaeli under the title "Don't abandon Fani."

Michaeli, for her part, continues to deal simultaneously with the consequences of the verdict in her case against Bressler and with the separate proceeding against "Brothers and Sisters in Arms." According to her, the struggle is not limited only to the financial amounts, but also affects her family.

"My children have to go to the front of the war with the knowledge that there is someone trying to silence their mother with such huge sums," she said.