Gideon Levy
Gideon LevyTomer Neuberg/Flash90

Judge Udi Hacker of the Bat Yam Magistrate's Court ruled that journalist Gideon Levy lied when he reported on air that people from Homesh hanged a Palestinian Arab on a tree and burned his feet.

"The defendant did not meet the burden of proof to substantiate the claim about the event where he alleged a 17-year-old Palestinian was hanged and his feet were burned. It was not proven that the teenager was hanged on a tree and his feet were burned," wrote the judge in his ruling.

The judge quoted Levy's remarks on Channel 13 News, where he referred to the people of Homesh as "subhumans" due to an event he claimed to have witnessed: "I was in Homesh several times and saw the people, saw how they behaved, and saw a Palestinian whom the people of Homesh hanged on a tree and how they burned his feet."

The judge further added in the defamation case filed by the head of the Homesh Yeshiva, Rabbi Elishama Cohen, and its manager, Shmuel Wendy, that "the defendant stated in his report, 'I saw a Palestinian that the people of Homesh hanged on a tree and how they burned his feet.' In fact, it turned out that the defendant did not witness the event but only spoke with the Palestinian teenager. The evidence in the case did not prove that the event occurred as described."

Judge Hacker criticized Levy's narrative, saying that "the evidence presented in the case does not support the defendant's version as published. The medical documents (which do not prove burns on the teenager's feet), the picture in the military jeep, and the IDF operational log do not support the event's description as told by the defendant."

However, the court dismissed the lawsuit filed for 500,000 NIS through attorney Menashe Yado from the Honenu organization.

The judge wrote: "The claim is dismissed in full," but determined that "regarding the costs - generally, when a claim is dismissed, costs should be awarded against the plaintiffs and in favor of the defendant, who won the case. However, given the circumstances and the deficiencies found in the publication by the defendant, I did not find it appropriate to award costs. Therefore: the claim is dismissed without costs."

Attorney Yado presented during past discussions a medical document from the Palestinian Authority hospital on the day of the incident, which did not mention any burns, thus disproving the claim of burning the Palestinian teenager's feet. Yado also revealed that, according to the company commander, the teenager confessed during interrogation that he came with his friends to throw stones at the yeshiva students.

Attorney Yado said: "Gideon Levy's Homesh Blood Libel was completely refuted; the court ruled that Levy has neither the defense of truth nor the defense of good faith. The lie about severe burns was disproved by medical documents, the lie about fainting and tear gas was disproved by a picture from the scene and the military operational log. Gideon Levy, the famous journalist, served no more than a mouthpiece for a dubious libel of Israel-haters, decorated it with anti-Semitic remarks, and did not retract even after failing to prove it and after it was disproved in court."