Shin Bet Deploys Night Crew to Remove Likud Election Event from Government Website

A Shin Bet duty officer was called in late Wednesday night to remove a registration page for a Likud party event from a government website, following a petition filed by the "Economic Unit" watchdog group. The event, a Rosh Hashanah reception for the Likud party, was scheduled to be held Thursday evening and was to be attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, along with several Likud ministers.

The Likud party had advertised the event about a week prior in activist groups, including a designed invitation featuring the Likud logo. The invitation invited attendees to the reception and provided a link for registration through a government domain website (gov.il), which also displayed the Likud logo alongside the Israeli government symbol. The watchdog group argued that using public resources for political campaigning is a violation of election law.

According to the petition, the government website collected personal information such as phone numbers, names, and ID numbers, stating the data would be used for "streamlining security procedures for a secured event and for optimal preparation by the event organizers." The Prime Minister's Office initially responded that the site was intended for "security purposes" but was removed due to the issue, and no information would be transferred to the Likud party. However, the watchdog group discovered the site remained active, prompting an urgent request to the chairman of the Election Committee, Judge Noam Sohlberg.

Sohlberg ordered the state to respond by 10 a.m. Thursday. The state then admitted that the registration page had not been removed by technical staff but confirmed that a duty officer was dispatched and the page was successfully taken down around 1:45 a.m. Thursday. The head of the Shin Bet's inspection division signed an affidavit confirming the details under the pseudonym "Amit." The Shin Bet stated that the incident would be reviewed.

The Prime Minister's Office clarified that the matter concerned their office and the Shin Bet, and that they did not initiate the content upload. The Election Committee chairman dismissed the petition as moot due to the website's removal and did not award costs to the Likud party. A review of the issues raised in the petition will be conducted by the Shin Bet.