Ideal Court docket Deputy President Justice Noam Sohlberg authorised a petition filed on Friday by means of the Motion for High quality Executive and dominated that Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will have to take away a video depicting a flotilla incident from all his social media accounts.
He additionally ordered Ben-Gvir to pay NIS 8,000 in prison prices to the motion, whilst the Nationwide Safety Ministry and the Israel Jail Provider had been collectively ordered to pay an extra NIS 15,000, for a complete of NIS 23,000.
In his ruling, Sohlberg stated the 38-second video, through which the minister is noticed traveling a detention facility on the Port of Ashdod amongst sure Sumud flotilla activists and waving an Israeli flag, constitutes election propaganda via using public property, in violation of Segment 2A of the Elections Regulation (Election Propaganda Strategies), 1959.
Making use of the dominant goal take a look at, the pass judgement on concluded that the instances of the recording – filming within an Israel Jail Provider facility, within the presence of uniformed team of workers, and later publishing the pictures at the minister’s non-public accounts – obviously point out a political campaigning goal.
The court docket stated its dialogue was once restricted strictly to election propaganda legislation and didn’t cope with broader public or global reactions to the video. It added that the pictures is “saturated with propaganda elements,” noting that it highlights the minister’s achievements and political positions.
Ideal Court docket Justice Noam Sohlberg attends a court docket listening to on the Ideal Court docket in Jerusalem on petitions in the hunt for to overturn the election of legal professional Michael Rabello as State Comptroller, June 18, 2026. (credit score: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
The ruling adopted a petition submitted by means of the Motion for High quality Executive final month, which demanded the video’s elimination inside 4 days. After Ben-Gvir refused, the motion filed a petition with the Central Elections Committee.
The verdict additionally famous that the petition was once submitted on June 2, just about two weeks after the video was once revealed. As a result of this extend, no period in-between elimination order was once issued on the time. On the other hand, the committee stressed out that the large distribution of the video in Israel and out of the country does now not negate enforcement of the legislation, since its authority is reactive and now not dependent at the extent of circulate.
Flawed use of public property
The motion argued from the outset that this was once a part of a broader trend, and the committee chairman referenced a precedent he set in March in Ben-Gvir’s case, ruling that using Israel Jail Provider amenities and uniformed team of workers constitutes fallacious use of public property.
The ruling emphasised that state property, together with uniforms, amenities, and safety team of workers, belong to the general public and can’t be used as equipment in a non-public election marketing campaign. It bolstered the boundary between public administrative center and political candidacy, environment a transparent end result for violations.
‘Undermining public accept as true with’
Legal professional Tomer Naor, deputy director normal for legislation and technique on the Motion for High quality Executive, stated that “when a central authority minister turns state amenities, Israel Jail Provider uniforms and safety team of workers into equipment in his election marketing campaign, he is not just breaking the legislation, he’s undermining public accept as true with and the state persona of his function.
“Today’s decision establishes that using public assets for political purposes comes at a price,” Naor persisted. “We will continue to stand guard across all arenas and ensure that electoral integrity is preserved.”
