Israel’s Central Elections Committee has ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for a second time, to remove a video from his personal social media accounts and pay legal costs after ruling it amounted to election propaganda.
Israel’s Channel 7 reported on Tuesday that committee chairman Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg ordered Netanyahu to delete footage filmed at Tel Nof Air Base and pay 2,500 shekels (about $821) in costs.
Sohlberg ruled that publishing the video on Netanyahu’s personal accounts violated election law by using public resources, including a military base and an Israeli Air Force aircraft.
Netanyahu posted the footage on September 29, with an Israeli Air Force aircraft visible in the background.
He warned that Israel could face attacks before the election, saying there were “indications that our enemies will try to attack us before the elections”, according to Israeli Channel 15.
The latest decision followed Sohlberg’s ruling on Sunday on five petitions concerning Netanyahu’s use of official speeches and the military for election propaganda on his personal accounts.
The petitions included a video showing Netanyahu during a visit to an Israeli military position in southern Lebanon.
Sohlberg ruled that the edited clip focused on the achievements of the government and prime minister, while parts relating to boosting soldiers’ morale and honouring them had been removed.
“This is, of course, election propaganda,” Sohlberg said. He ordered Netanyahu to remove the posts and pay 29,000 shekels (about $9,000) in costs.
Israel is scheduled to hold a Knesset election on October 27. Parties in Netanyahu’s governing coalition, led by his Likud party, are competing against opposition parties.
Recent polls suggest neither bloc would independently secure the 61 seats needed to form a government. A poll by public broadcaster KAN on Sunday projected 52 seats for opposition parties and 51 for Netanyahu’s coalition.
Netanyahu has led the government since late December 2022. He is standing trial on corruption charges, which he denies, and the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
