Sharon awarded $2,000 for court costs in Israel

A district court Thursday awarded Ariel Sharon $2,000 for trial costs in his suit against Time magazine and ruled the magazine defamed the former Israeli defense minister. But Judge Eliahu Vinogradov made no decision on whether Time had libeled Sharon. The judge accepted Sharon's argument that the Israeli court should adopt the verdict of a New York jury last February that ruled Time defamed Sharon and falsely reported that he discussed taking revenge on civilian refugees in Lebanon.

The court still must decide whether this constitutes libel under Israeli law, and whether Sharon should be awarded damages. Sharon has demanded the equivalent of $50,000 damages from the Israeli court. Sharon lost his case in a New York federal court because he did not prove that Time acted with malice.