JERUSALEM (AP) – Two former Israeli prime ministers clashed in a Tel Aviv courtroom as Benjamin Netanyahu’s libel suit against Ehud Olmert began on Monday.

Netanyahu, his wife and son appeared in Tel Aviv Magistrates’ Court to open their case against Olmert, Netanyahu’s predecessor as prime minister of Israel.

Netanyahu had threatened to sue Olmert for comments he made last year, in the aftermath of Israel’s 2021 parliamentary elections and as Netanyahu refused to step down during his trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. -wine.

In an interview with an Israeli news site last April, Olmert criticized Netanyahu and said that “what is irreparable is the mental illness of the prime minister, his wife and his son.”

The Netanyahu sued Olmert, claiming nearly $ 270,000 in damages, according to Hebrew press reports.

Neither Netanyahu nor Olmert spoke at the courthouse.

Olmert predated Netanyahu as Israeli prime minister, but resigned in 2008 before being formally charged with corruption. Olmert was convicted of fraud in 2014 and served most of a 27-month prison sentence.

As for Netanyahu, he is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes, but denies any wrongdoing. He was ousted from the prime minister’s office after a coalition of parties opposed to him managed to form a government without his once dominant party, Likud, last June. Netanyahu is currently leader of the opposition in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.