Petition Seeks to Bar Netanyahu From Using State Resources for Election Propaganda

The Israeli Democracy Guard movement filed an urgent petition today, Tuesday, with the chair of the Central Elections Committee for the Knesset, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, demanding an injunction against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the petition, submitted through attorney Ram Pardes of Naschitz, Brandes, Amir & Co., the movement asks to prohibit Netanyahu from continuing to use the resources of the Prime Minister’s Office and the IDF for election propaganda purposes.

The petition details dozens of separate cases in which, according to the petitioners, the prime minister allegedly used state resources and national symbols to benefit his election campaign. Among other things, the petitioners cite use of the official website of the Prime Minister’s Office and the office’s public social media accounts. The petition also alleges that Netanyahu uses photos of IDF soldiers and military resources for political posts on his private Facebook and Instagram accounts.

"When the respondent’s image is repeatedly presented alongside uniformed security personnel, accompanied by verbal messages praising achievements, strength, determination and victory, a clear propaganda message is conveyed," the petition states. The petitioners emphasized that, "The Prime Minister is personally associated with the power of the state, with the IDF and with the security and rescue systems. This is exactly the kind of use of public resources that Section 2A of the law and the case law under it were intended to prevent."