National Security Minister Ben Gvir Seeks Legal Change to Allow Campaign Photos with Security Forces

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is pushing to amend the election propaganda law to permit ministers to be photographed alongside police and fire personnel during election campaigns without it being considered misuse of public resources. The coalition is advancing an exemption allowing any minister or deputy minister to appear with entities under their jurisdiction without such appearances counting as political campaigning. The proposal was submitted by MK Itzhak Kroizer of Otzma Yehudit, Ben Gvir's party, amid numerous rulings by the chairman of the Elections Committee and Supreme Court Deputy President Justice Noam Solberg against ministers regarding campaign videos.

Ben Gvir insists on promoting the amendment, which will be decided in a coalition vote. Sources from Otzma Yehudit and other government parties criticized Solberg's rulings as excessive, arguing that ministers are simply discussing their official activities. However, legal experts estimate the change is unlikely to pass since anything undermining equality cannot be allowed as an exception.

Justice Solberg has already disqualified several of Ben Gvir's videos for violating the ban on using public assets for campaigning. These included footage of Ben Gvir on a police boat tour, at Ofer Prison, videos depicting the humiliation of Gaza flotilla detainees, and a video about the death penalty for terrorists filmed at the Underground Prisoners Museum. Ben Gvir is not alone; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ordered to remove a video from his personal political account showing him with senior IDF commanders, also deemed improper use of public resources. Transportation Minister Miri Regev and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have similarly had to edit or remove videos related to their ministries due to political use allegations.