Democrats Accuse Defense Minister Katz of Political Campaigning

The legal advisor for the Democratic party, attorney Omri Shegev, sent a warning letter to Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday, demanding he cease what he termed political use of the Defense Ministry's office resources. The party threatened to appeal to the head of the Central Elections Committee if the practice continues.

The party's objection stems from a message posted in a WhatsApp group named "Defense Ministry Office Announcements," which includes journalists. The message attributed statements to Katz, claiming that "Yair Golan, the incoming Defense Minister of the left-wing bloc, announced this morning that Mansour Abbas, who has not agreed since October 7th until today to describe Hamas as a terrorist organization, could be in the next government." The message also quoted Golan as saying, "Yair Golan admits: there is no government for Eizenkot without the Arab parties."

The Democratic party stated that the Defense Ministry's office "is not Israel Katz's propaganda office," arguing that using the defense minister's position for political campaigning constitutes an exploitation of the office and state resources. They reiterated their threat to approach the Central Elections Committee if such material distribution does not stop.

The party also denied that Golan made the statements attributed to him by Katz regarding a government led by Gadi Eizenkot. They clarified that Golan had said he saw no objection to the United Arab List participating in a governing coalition, and later explained this was his personal stance, not that of all opposition leaders.

According to "Yedioth Ahronoth," the Defense Ministry's WhatsApp group is typically used to disseminate security updates to journalists. Previous messages in the group included Katz's decision to impose a closure on the West Bank and his condolences for two soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip.

In response, the Defense Ministry's office rejected the Democrats' criticism, asserting that the group is a "distribution channel for the Defense Ministry's office, not Defense Ministry propaganda." They explained that the minister's spokesperson also posts political content there, while the media department staff handles security statements, and the group is intended for specific messages from the minister.