Israel opposition figure sues Netanyahu's wife over Oct 7 conspiracy theory

An Israeli opposition politician on Thursday said he had filed a libel lawsuit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife after she suggested he had prior knowledge of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

The lawsuit for defamation and incitement to violence comes as Israel's election campaign takes an acriminious turn, in a country divided and traumatised by the worst massacre ever committed on its soil.

In an interview with Israel's right-wing Channel 14 in late August, Sara Netanyahu lashed out at Yair Golan, the former deputy military chief of staff who heads Israel's centre-left Democrats party.

She suggested that Golan knew of Hamas's plans to attack southern Israel, claiming he was "already dressed and ready" at dawn that day, "while others knew nothing, including the prime minister".

Sara Netanyahu's remarks sparked a flurry of responses, with many Israelis choosing to praise Golan for his reaction on October 7, when he spontaneously joined efforts to push back the attack using his personal weapon.

Golan on Thursday said he had filed a lawsuit for defamation and incitement to violence.

"These conspiracy theories... did not arise on their own but from the malicious mind of those seeking to shake off responsibility for the terrible disaster," the lawsuit reads.

Golan is seeking damages of 2.5 million shekels (about 822,000 dollars), and for Sara Netanyahu to retract her statement, according to the same document.

The October 7, 2023 attack is at the heart of Israel's election campaign, with Netanyahu also facing accusations of prior knowledge.

A report this week, denied by the prime minister, accused him of receiving a warned from the United Arab Emirates of Hamas's plans for an imminent large-scale attack.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. The militants also dragged into Gaza some 251 hostages, 44 of them already dead.

The massive Israeli offensive in response has left most of Gaza in ruins and killed 73,670 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.