Olmert and Netanyahu
Olmert and NetanyahuTomer Neuberg/FLASH90 and Avi OHayon/GPO

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his family will have to pay former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert NIS 3,500 ($1,100) in the lawsuit they are pursuing against him.

According to a report by journalist Aviad Glickman, Netanyahu, his wife Sarah and their son Yair Netanyahu will pay Olmert the hassle after refusing to answer questions he raised against them.

The judge ruled that the Netanyahu family's refusal to answer Olmert's specific questions on the grounds that it was "irrelevant" was contrary to the judge's instructions.

In addition, the judge set a new date for responding to the questions, and ruled that by March 15, the Netanyahu family must answer the questions.

As you may recall, the defamation lawsuit filed by the Netanyahu family against Ehud Olmert began two months ago in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court. The family filed a defamation lawsuit against Olmert in the amount of NIS 837,000, alleging that he called them "mentally ill."

The judge, Amit Yariv, asked Olmert: “What steps did you take when you said that any psychiatrist would have had the Netanyahus admitted to a psychiatric ward?”

Olmert replied: “I listened to recordings of the family and I consulted with experts who know them, and they told me about forms of behavior that fell into the category of what people commonly call ‘insane, abnormal behavior.’”

The judge then noted that the main question that concerned him was not whether the plaintiffs were healthy or otherwise, but rather whether Olmert had any practical basis for the words he used.

Attorney Yossi Cohen, representing the Netanyahu family, said: “In any other country, Olmert would have been arrested,” to which the judge replied, “Thank G-d that we’re not in any other country.”