Shin Bet Called In to Remove Likud Event Page From Government Website

A duty officer from the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) was urgently summoned in the early hours of September 17 to remove a Likud party registration page from a government website. The page was for a Rosh Hashanah event scheduled for that evening, featuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, along with other Likud ministers. The event invitation, which included the Likud logo, had been circulating for about a week and directed attendees to register via a page on a government (.gov.il) domain. The registration page itself also displayed the Likud logo alongside the official Israeli government emblem.

The action followed a petition filed on September 15 by the organization "Economic Department" to the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Solberg. The organization argued that using state resources for political campaigning and collecting personal data, including phone numbers, names, and ID numbers, for a party event was a clear violation of election law. The petition stated the collected data was to be used for security and organizational purposes, despite the Likud party being the event's organizer.

The Prime Minister's Office initially stated the site was used for "security purposes" but agreed to remove the page due to legal concerns, assuring that no data would be transferred to the Likud party. However, the "Economic Department" found the page remained accessible and alerted Judge Solberg. Around 2:00 AM, Solberg ordered the state to respond by 10:00 AM.

In its response, the state admitted the registration link had not been removed by responsible personnel. It confirmed that a duty officer was immediately called to the security structures' offices and successfully removed the page by approximately 1:45 AM. The head of the Shin Bet's inspection unit, under the pseudonym "Amit," signed a declaration confirming these circumstances. The state indicated the incident would be investigated internally by the Shin Bet. The Prime Minister's Office clarified that the matter involved their office and the Shin Bet, and that their own staff did not initiate the page's placement on the government site.

Judge Solberg closed the case without ordering Likud to pay legal costs, deeming the petition moot after the page's removal. A check by Calcalist confirmed the page was no longer active. The Shin Bet stated that its actions are in accordance with the law for protecting the Prime Minister and that the issues raised would be further examined as determined by the Central Elections Committee chairman.