Benny Gantz
Benny GantzElad Malka

The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom will donate NIS 50,000 to charity as part of a settlement arrangement in a libel suit brought against it by Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz, Kikar Hashabat reported on Sunday night.

According to Gantz's decision NIS 25,000 will go to the Olim Beyahad organization for new immigrants which assists new immigrants from Ethiopia and the other NIS 25,000 will go to the Ohana family who lost two of their children in a fire at their home on Friday evening in Netanya.

According to the firefighters, the fire was caused by a malfunction of the electrical system in the rundown house, a Channel 12 News report said on Sunday. The fire combined with the fact that the children's bedroom had no window and the roof was made out of tin led to the tragedy. The father of the family is disabled and said that he's been begging the Amidar public housing company for an apartment for years.

The settlement also declared that Israel Hayom articles will "be careful to ensure that their reports on the plaintiff will be fair, appropriate and in accordance with the law."

The settlement didn't mention Gantz's claims that the newspaper published false stories and lies about him in a deliberate attempt to harm him politically prior to the elections for the 21st Knesset.

The libel suit was filed a year and a half ago by Gantz. He sued Israel Hayom, its editor and a reporter for NIS 1 million to be donated by him to charity for a series of fabricated stories about him going back to when he was a teenager - stories that were never proven.

In a letter of warning before initiating legal proceedings that he sent to the paper, Gantz wrote that "in view of your obsessive repetition of these false reports, if you don't take action within two hours of receiving this letter, a lawsuit will be brought against you tomorrow."