Israel Election Campaign Sees Record Number of Complaints
Translated & summarized from Vesty by baba
Israel's current election campaign has generated a record number of over 276 complaints regarding campaign activities, submitted to Central Election Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg. This number is nearly five times higher than in past elections and approaches the total handled by the previous five chairmen combined. The surge is attributed to social media and the speed of information, while outdated legislation struggles to cope with digital content. Recent disputes include Likud's use of Arabic advertisements and Yachad's mailings resembling military summonses.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Over 276 complaints filed in Israel's current election campaign, a record high.
- The number of complaints is nearly five times greater than in past elections.
- Current complaint volume approaches the total handled by the previous five election committee chairmen.
- Outdated legislation struggles to address campaign violations on social media.
- Recent disputes involve Likud's Arabic ads and Yachad's military-style mailings.
The current election campaign in Israel has seen a record number of complaints regarding campaign activities, with over 276 submitted to Noam Sohlberg, Chairman of the Central Election Committee (CEC) and Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. This figure is nearly five times higher than in previous elections, with dozens more complaints concerning other election-related issues. The CEC has already issued decisions on 31 complaints in the past week alone. Typically, the CEC chairman handles 50-60 complaints about campaigning per election cycle, but the current number is approaching the 288 complaints handled by the previous five chairmen combined. For comparison, the 2015-2019 election cycle, culminating in the 21st Knesset elections, saw only 58 such appeals.
The workload is further intensified as a single complaint can encompass over a hundred publications. Factors contributing to this surge include the speed of information dissemination, easier identification of violations, and the relative simplicity of filing complaints. The CEC must constantly prioritize urgent cases, while others may face longer waiting times, depending on complexity, urgency, and procedural requirements involving entities beyond the CEC, such as the government's legal advisor, particularly when complaints involve current ministers.
Despite the increased pace during election campaigns, which accelerates closer to election day, existing legislation on campaigning, developed decades ago, does not adequately address content spread on social media. Orders to remove publications do not guarantee their complete eradication from the digital space, and the effectiveness of recovering legal costs is limited. While such measures can deter some violators, they do not constitute criminal penalties or a comprehensive mechanism for combating digital violations.
In response to the surge, Sohlberg has expanded the use of temporary orders to remove publications. While these allow for swift action, they can sometimes backfire by drawing more attention to controversial material. Recent disputes include a Likud campaign featuring outdoor advertisements in Arabic that displayed photos of Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan, Naftali Bennett, and Avigdor Lieberman alongside Mansour Abbas and Ahmed Tibi. The campaign used colors associated with Eisenkot's Yachad party, allegedly to mislead the public. Sohlberg ordered Likud to publish a Hebrew clarification stating the campaign belonged to their party and to remove the posters "as soon as possible." Conversely, Likud had previously filed a complaint against Yachad for sending hundreds of thousands of letters to first-time voters, designed to resemble military summonses for mandatory service.
Mentioned
