Tuesday, September 13, 2022, 13:12 Right-wing activist Yosef Freisman sued journalist Yisrael Frey for libel over a tweet that Frey posted on Twitter claiming that Freisman had threatened an IDF soldier. Documentation of the incident proves otherwise. Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado filed a suit on behalf of Freisman with the Eretz Hemdah Rabbinical Court of Financial Matters for the sum of 100,000 NIS. The statement of claim was transferred to Frey approximately six weeks ago. He has neither responded to it nor appeared in court for a hearing.
Subsequently, the Eretz Hemdah Rabbinical Court issued a katav siruv (rabbinical contempt of court order) to Frey. The rabbinical judges wrote in the katav siruv that “the meaning of this [the refusal to appear in court] is that he is not interested in litigation according to the Torah,” hence the rabbinical ruling that Freisman is permitted to continue the litigation of the suit in a civil court.
Frey posted the tweet on July 20, 2022, when new communities were being founded by the Nahala (Inheritance) Movement in Yehuda and Shomron. He also posted a segment of a video clip that shows Freisman making a threat, “Don’t touch me with your hands. Why? I’ll break your arms and legs,” and wrote that it was directed at an IDF soldier: “Settler to IDF soldier”. The truth is completely different. An unedited video clip of the incident proves that Freisman was speaking to a left-wing activist who had clashed with him. The left-wing activist was with a group of anarchists who were waving PLO flags and threatening the participants at the community founding. The left-wing activist called Freisman “garbage” and “idiot,” touched him, and more.
Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado stated about Frey that “it is already clear to me that there is nothing to expect from someone who said that a terrorist who was apprehended in Yafo deserves a medal because he wanted to murder soldiers and not civilians. According to his way of thinking, soldiers are a legitimate target. He is a repulsive man.”