The on-air remark came at a high cost: Channel 14 commentator and media outlet to pay compensation of 105,000 shekels

The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court partially accepted a defamation lawsuit filed by reserve Colonel Yossi Langotsky against commentator Yaakov Bardugo and Channel 14. Judge Dalit Vered ruled that Bardugo portrayed Langotsky and his son as intending to harm him and his family, even though Langotsky's interview, to which Bardugo was responding, contained no such statements. Bardugo and Channel 14 were jointly and severally ordered to pay Langotsky 75,000 shekels in compensation plus interest. Additionally, court costs and attorney fees of 30,000 shekels were awarded in his favor. The lawsuit, filed for approximately 475,000 shekels, concerned a monologue broadcast by Bardugo in February 2023 on the program "Sheva" on Channel 14. Hours earlier, Langotsky had been interviewed by Ben Caspit and Yinon Magal on Radio 103FM, following his signing of a petition by Israel Prize security award recipients against the judicial reform. In the interview, Langotsky warned that the situation in the country could deteriorate into civil war and bloodshed. Later that day, Bardugo addressed Langotsky on air, asking, "Is your son going to take a rifle and shoot me?" and saying, "You are a person who threatened my children, me, my family." The court ruled that the statements implying Langotsky and his son intended to shoot and kill Bardugo, as well as the claim that Langotsky deserved arrest, constituted defamation. The judge determined that Bardugo "turned a legitimate political debate and a general warning against civil war into a personal war." Conversely, the terms "dummy" and "shallow" were not considered defamation under the circumstances. The court rejected the defense arguments of Bardugo and the channel, ruling that the monologue did not fully and accurately present Langotsky's statements.