- Congregation of Israel: Ophirim paid a price
Musician Gil Ofarim (42) has paid the fine imposed after his trial for fabricating a David star scandal at a Leipzig hotel. The money has been received, the manager of the Jewish community in Leipzig confirmed. "The money was transferred yesterday," Ofarim's lawyer Alexander Stevens also said. Initially, Bild newspaper had reported this.
The trial against Ofarim for libel and slander was provisionally dismissed by the Leipzig Regional Court in late November last year. However, the musician had to pay a fine of 10,000 euros - half to the Jewish community in Leipzig and half to the House of the Wannsee Conference memorial and education center in Berlin. A spokesperson for the House of the Wannsee Conference declined to comment.
Ofarim had accused a Leipzig hotel of anti-Semitism in a video in October 2021, claiming that the hotel manager had asked him to remove his David star necklace to check in. The video went viral on social media. Ofarim later filed a complaint, but the hotel manager also defended himself and filed a countersuit for libel. In court, Ofarim eventually confessed and apologized.
A spokesperson for the Regional Court had previously emphasized that the court will decide on the final dismissal of the case upon receipt of the money. Ofarim had been granted an extension of the payment deadline until August 28.
Despite confessing and apologizing in court, Gil Ofarim did not initially admit his false accusations of anti-Semitism against the Leipzig hotel manager. I'm not going to lie, I was skeptical about the validity of his claims after watching the viral video.
