Election Committee Rejects Petition Against Netanyahu's Campaign Videos

The Central Elections Committee has dismissed a petition challenging three election campaign videos posted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his personal Facebook page. The petition, filed by attorney Yaron Meiri, argued that the videos were filmed using public property, violating election law. Meiri contended that the filming took place in a government space, possibly the Prime Minister's office, and that the use of furniture and other items constituted the misuse of public assets for campaign purposes.

Central Elections Committee Chairman, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, ruled that the petition should be rejected outright due to a lack of grounds. He cited a recent legislative amendment that expanded exceptions to the prohibition on using public property for campaign purposes. The amendment allows filming in the office of a minister, deputy minister, Knesset member, or local authority head without violating the law. Sohlberg determined that the room where the videos were filmed appeared to be the Prime Minister's office, and even if it was a related space, its characteristics justified applying the same exception.

Regarding specific items in the videos, Sohlberg deemed the use of a meeting table, whiteboard, and furniture as incidental and necessary for an office. He rejected the idea that filming should only be allowed against a blank wall, stating this would force public officials to alter their office usage. For the first video, which featured an F-35 model and a world map, Sohlberg classified the use of public property as marginal. He noted uncertainty about the F-35 model's ownership and its financial value, and described the pointing to the map as incidental to discussing foreign countries.

The judge also dismissed claims related to the third video, which included a brief appearance by a woman and a two-second clip allegedly from a Government Press Office filming. Sohlberg found the claims unsubstantiated and the use of the clip to be minimal, lacking public symbols or backgrounds indicating misuse of public assets. He concluded that while the videos were clearly campaign material, there was no evidence they were filmed by public employees.

The petition was dismissed, and the petitioner was ordered to pay 8,000 shekels in expenses to the state treasury. The committee noted that even though the ruling was made without requiring responses from the respondents, the review and decision consumed judicial and public resources.