Israeli Election Spam: Parties Exempt from Anti-Spam Law

As Israel approaches the 26th Knesset elections on October 27, citizens are increasingly exposed to political messaging, including texts, voicemails, and digital ads. However, legal experts clarify that political parties are largely exempt from Israel's anti-spam law, meaning individuals cannot sue for receiving unsolicited political messages.

Attorney Amir Zulti explains that Knesset members specifically excluded the "dissemination of political messages, including election propaganda," from the Communications Law (Bezeq and Broadcasting), 1982. This exemption has been upheld by the courts, even when attempts were made to limit its scope. While messages merely asking about voting intentions might not be covered, identifying the sender for legal action remains a challenge. The law also doesn't impose sanctions on "marketing" phone calls, though extreme cases of harassment or fear-inducing content could theoretically lead to criminal proceedings.

Despite the general exemption, legal avenues may exist in specific circumstances. Attorney Ronen Katzav notes that while the law doesn't clearly outline a citizen's right to be removed from party mailing lists, repeated messages after a removal request could form grounds for a lawsuit under other privacy laws. Attorney Amit Zilberg emphasizes that while election propaganda is excluded from the spam law, parties are not granted immunity from harassment or privacy violations. In one case, a party paid 3,500 shekels in a settlement for continuing to send messages after a request to stop.

Citizens can report violations of election propaganda laws to the Central Elections Committee, which has the authority to order service providers to identify senders and impose fines. If personal information beyond public knowledge is used to target messages, such as medical history or draft status, a complaint can be filed with the Privacy Protection Authority. While class-action lawsuits are a theoretical possibility, they have not yet been filed against parties due to associated financial risks. To build a case, individuals should document all received messages, including any requests to be removed from mailing lists and the responses received.