Election Committee Rejects Petitions Against Netanyahu's Air Force Base Video
Translated & summarized from Maariv by baba
The Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Sohlberg, dismissed petitions against a video of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an Air Force base, ruling its dominant purpose was security, not election propaganda. While acknowledging the use of public assets and a propagandistic element in attributing achievements to the government, Sohlberg found these secondary to the video's security-related themes. The petitioners were ordered to pay 4,500 shekels in expenses.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Judge Noam Sohlberg dismissed petitions against a video of PM Netanyahu at an Air Force base.
- The judge ruled the video's dominant purpose was security, not election propaganda.
- Sohlberg acknowledged the use of public assets and a propagandistic element in the video.
- He stated the security and IDF-related aspects were more dominant than government achievements.
- The petitioners were ordered to pay 4,500 shekels in expenses.
The Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Sohlberg, has dismissed petitions that sought to disqualify a video featuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an Air Force base, which had been alleged to be election propaganda. While rejecting the petitions, Sohlberg issued a warning regarding the future publication of similar videos.
Sohlberg acknowledged that public assets, specifically the military facility and a fighter jet, were used in the video. However, he focused on determining the dominant purpose of the publication. Regarding Netanyahu's use of the singular "I" at the beginning of the video, Sohlberg stated that phrases like "I am here," "I spoke," and "I was impressed" in this context are factual descriptions, not indicative of propaganda.
Concerning the attribution of political and security achievements, the chairman noted that the video does contain a propagandistic element by attributing "great achievements" to the government. Nevertheless, he concluded that this aspect was secondary to the video's other purposes. These other purposes were deemed more prominent and dominant, especially since the achievements were primarily attributed to the IDF and "our brave pilots and ground crews" rather than solely to the government.
Sohlberg also addressed the fact that the video was published on the Prime Minister's personal accounts, admitting this leans towards a propagandistic purpose. However, he maintained that given the video's content, this factor alone was insufficient to classify its main purpose as propaganda. He reminded that while publication on a personal-political account creates a strong presumption of propaganda, the content itself remains the primary consideration.
The petitions were ultimately rejected, and the petitioners were ordered to pay the respondents a total of 4,500 shekels in expenses.
