Blue and White Party chairman Benny Gantz filed a libel lawsuit in the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Thursday following accusations against him of sexual misconduct that occurred some 40 years ago when he was a senior in high school.
On Wednesday, Navarone (Nava) Jacobs posted on her Facebook page that she was sexually harassed by Gantz when she was 14 and they were studying at Hakfar Hayarok boarding school in central Israel. At the time, Jacobs was a freshman and Gantz was a senior, Channel 13 News reported.Gantz denied the allegations, filing a libel suit for NIS 500,000 against Jacobs.In the lawsuit, Gantz argued that this claim was “a false report from start to finish – a real blood libel. The plaintiff does not remember any acquaintance with the defendant, and in any case the fantastic story she invented from her feverish mind never happened.”Gantz announced that he intends to contribute any money that will be awarded in his favor from this lawsuit to a public cause, such as to the Association for Rape Crisis Centers.
According to the lawsuit, Jacobs acted on a mission or with the help of political parties interested in discrediting and humiliating Gantz.
It further claimed that her Facebook publications indicate that she identifies with the opposing political camp and that according to media reports, people close to Likud members were in contact with her prior to the false publication and helped her spread her story.Gantz added that a review of the published text also shows that this is “a text that is processed and cooked up by an interested party.”