Election Committee Head Rejects Challenges to AI-Generated Legal Figures Video

Central Elections Committee Chairman, Justice Noam Sohlberg, on Thursday dismissed two petitions seeking to disqualify a video featuring artificial intelligence-generated likenesses of senior legal figures. The petitions argued the video violated election laws by threatening legal officials and misusing public figures in campaign material.

The video, published by the Religious Zionism party, depicted AI versions of Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, Justice Daphne Barak-Erez, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, seemingly participating in a protest against Minister Bezalel Smotrich and being forcibly removed by police.

The Israel Bar Association claimed the video threatened senior law enforcement officials, thereby disrupting the election process. The "Yisrael Beiteinu" party, with Benny Gantz, argued that using images of senior public officials in election propaganda violated prohibitions on using public assets.

Justice Sohlberg ruled that it was questionable whether the depicted legal figures felt threatened by the video. He also determined that using a senior public official's likeness to criticize them does not constitute a violation of the prohibition on using public assets for election campaigning.

Sohlberg acknowledged the video was personally difficult to watch due to its content and poor taste, but stated his duty was to rule on the legal merits, not personal feelings. He concluded that without a legal basis for disqualification, the video would be judged by the voters, not election law.