Election Committee Rejects Petitions Against Netanyahu's Military Video

The Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Sohlberg, on Sunday rejected three petitions filed against a video released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the Ramat David Air Force base. However, Sohlberg warned that as election day approaches, it will become more difficult to justify similar videos under the claim of a security message.

The video, published on October 19, showed Netanyahu in front of a fighter jet, warning Israel's enemies: "Don't test us, you will suffer harder blows than you have suffered to date." The petitioners argued that Netanyahu had used a military base and a fighter jet, considered public assets, for election propaganda. They also contended that the video's publication on his personal accounts and his attribution of security achievements to the government reinforced the claim of propaganda.

Sohlberg did not accept these arguments, ruling that the video's primary purpose was to deter Israel's enemies. He stated that while attributing achievements to the government included a propaganda aspect, it did not outweigh the security message. Nevertheless, Sohlberg clarified that Netanyahu had conveyed similar messages several times recently. In his decision, he wrote that as elections draw nearer, it will be harder to determine that the security objective supersedes the propaganda objective, and the tendency to view such publications as election propaganda will increase.

The petitions were dismissed, and the three petitioners were ordered to pay a total of 4,500 shekels in legal costs.