Gadi Eizenkot Challenges Netanyahu Over Use of Soldiers in Election Campaign Ads

Gadi Eizenkot, through his party Yisrael!, filed a petition on Wednesday with the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Solberg, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party remove numerous election propaganda materials featuring IDF soldiers, uniforms, and operational footage, which they claim violate the law. The petition highlights recurring use of soldiers in Netanyahu's Facebook profile picture, a video from August 5 showing Netanyahu interacting with new combat recruits, and other videos and posts incorporating soldiers, pilots, officers, weaponry, and operational scenes from Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Yisrael! argues this is not incidental but a consistent pattern over months, with Netanyahu shown alongside soldiers in uniform, speaking to them, shaking hands, and awarding ranks. The petition notes that Likud itself previously requested the Elections Committee to prohibit the use of soldiers in election propaganda, a standard the committee accepted. Yisrael! insists Likud must now respect this precedent when it appears on Netanyahu's personal page.

This petition follows a recent ruling by Judge Solberg on a Likud petition against Yisrael!, which determined that prominent and repeated use of soldiers in uniform in election campaigns may constitute improper use of public assets. Last week, the committee ordered the removal of a Netanyahu video featuring children, following a petition claiming it violated rules against involving children in election propaganda. Days earlier, Netanyahu posted a video from a visit to Malha Mall in Jerusalem, showing him interacting with visitors, including many children.