Israeli Election Chief Orders PM Netanyahu to Remove Campaign Propaganda

Supreme Court Justice and Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Noam Sohlberg, has ruled that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must remove "improper publications" and pay NIS 29,000 in legal costs. The ruling came after Sohlberg partially accepted petitions alleging that Netanyahu had improperly used the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and state resources for election campaign propaganda.

Sohlberg stated that "the mixing of state-security needs with political election propaganda cannot be tolerated." He criticized the alleged use of the Prime Minister's office and IDF resources for political purposes. The petitions concerned several key events from Netanyahu's recent political and security activities.

Among the events reviewed were a press conference in June 2026 on political and security matters, which petitioners claimed was used to showcase political achievements, and footage of a meeting with the IDF's senior command forum that was distributed online and deemed "propaganda content."

Sohlberg ruled that in both these cases, the line between state activity and election propaganda had been crossed, ordering the removal of related publications from official and personal channels. However, for petitions concerning a visit to southern Lebanon as part of ongoing security operations and a course completion ceremony for officers, Sohlberg determined that only parts of the content constituted improper propaganda. These petitions were partially accepted, leading to the removal of specific segments.

Other petitions, related to a "Bible Trail" ceremony and security statements concerning Iran, were rejected. Sohlberg concluded that these did not constitute improper propaganda but rather permissible state reporting and activity.