By JOANNA PARASZCZUK
The Tel Aviv District Court ruled on Sunday ruled to delay further proceedings in Ehud Olmert's defamation lawsuit against Moshe Lador, in order that the court can hear the state prosecutor's request to appeal against a ruling denying him immunity from prosecution.As a result of the ruling, Lador does not now need to file a defense response to Olmert's lawsuit. However, after Judge Eitan Orenstein said he would not make any decision regarding Lador's immunity, it is possible that the matter will be taken to the Supreme Court."I believe there is a possibility the claim will require clarification in an evidentiary hearing and that it will be decided in a ruling," the judge said.The former prime minister is suing Lador for defamation following remarks the state prosecutor made in a February interview with left-leaning Hebrew daily Haaretz.In the Haaretz interview, Lador described a $75,000 loan Olmert had allegedly received from American businessman Josef Elmaliach in 1993 as “extraordinarily scandalous,” and claimed that Olmert had yet to return the money.
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