Questions Raised Over Funds Raised in Yair Netanyahu Campaign

About three and a half years ago, Yair Netanyahu posted a fundraising video calling on the public to donate to what he described as legal defense for right-wing activists facing the “legal terror of the left.” The campaign collected 141,000 shekels. The money was transferred to the association “The Forum for Promoting Freedom of Expression in Israel.”

The donation drive came in December 2022, shortly after Netanyahu had been dealing with several defamation lawsuits and after a court ordered him to pay 250,000 shekels to former Walla CEO Avi Alkalai. In the video, Netanyahu stressed that the money was not for him personally. He said, “Freedom of expression for us, the people of the right, is under attack,” adding that “the left is trying to take away even this last shred of our rights.” He also said, “They are flush with money, all those left-wing organizations. By contrast, their victims are private individuals who suddenly have to face legal expenses of hundreds of thousands of shekels.”

According to the report, the association did not file financial statements or report what was done with the donations. The Registrar of Associations has therefore recently decided to ask the court to dissolve it. The move raises questions about whether the campaign funds were actually used for the legal assistance promised, and if so, to whom they were transferred and in what amount.

Netanyahu declined to answer where the money went, and association founder Shimson Elboim also declined to comment.