Israeli Election Committee: Netanyahu's Video from Military Base Contains Election Campaigning

Tel Aviv - Ofaq News - The head of the Israeli Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Solberg, ruled today, Tuesday, that the video filmed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inside the Israeli Air Force base in Tel Nof, in which he talks about the possibility of an attack before the elections, contains elements of electoral propaganda.

Based on the decision, Solberg ordered the removal of the video from Netanyahu's personal accounts, but allowed it to remain on the official accounts of the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's Office, as the clip does not only include political and electoral messages, but also contains a security message directed at entities outside of Israel.

Netanyahu appeared in the video in front of a fighter jet inside the Tel Nof base, discussing what he described as "enormous pressures" to retract military achievements that Israel has made.

Netanyahu said in the clip: "Retracting achievements? I will not allow that to happen, and I will not give them that," using the plural first-person form in several instances throughout the video.

The entity that submitted the petition viewed the publication of the video as an use of state resources within the framework of electoral propaganda, contrary to the provisions of Israeli election law.

According to the decision of the election committee, the content of the video is "mixed"; it combines electoral propaganda with conveying a public message to countries and entities outside of Israel.

Solberg explained that the place of publication of the video is important in determining its legal nature. In official accounts, the post can be considered a message issued in the name of the state, while in personal accounts, the message is viewed as being issued by the candidate himself.

The decision indicated that after the video was published through official accounts, there was no clear official need justifying its re-publication through Netanyahu's personal accounts.

He added that the video used public resources, including a military base belonging to the Israeli army and an aircraft belonging to the air force, and therefore its publication through Netanyahu's private accounts constitutes a violation of the legal provisions regarding the use of state resources in electoral propaganda.