Central Elections Committee chair Justice Noam Solberg ruled that an AI-generated campaign video by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, showing MK Gadi Eisenkot shaking hands with PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas, is misleading. Solberg ordered the video removed and imposed a NIS 10,000 fine on Smotrich, according to N12's Dafna Liel.
At 18:42 Jerusalem, Central Elections Committee chair Justice Noam Solberg ordered Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to remove an AI-generated campaign video and pay a NIS 10,000 fine, ruling the video was misleading. The video depicts MK Gadi Eisenkot shaking hands with PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas, implying cooperation with the Palestinian Authority. The fine is to be paid to the petitioners who filed the complaint.
The ruling caps a sequence of legal moves. On June 26, Eisenkot filed an urgent petition to remove the video. On June 28, Solberg rejected that petition. However, after further proceedings, the committee reversed course and issued the order today, this time with a monetary penalty.
The Central Elections Committee has been actively enforcing campaign law. On June 19, it ordered National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to remove a video and fined him NIS 23,000 for illegal election propaganda. On July 1, it ordered the removal of a campaign video by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On June 22, it imposed fines on ministers for filming political content in their official offices — all reported by The Zioneer at the time.
The video must be removed, and the fine paid to the petitioners. No further rulings have been announced regarding this specific video.
3 developments
- DevelopingJudge rejects Eisenkot's urgent petition to remove Smotrich video
- DevelopingEisenkot petitions to remove Smotrich AI video claiming his party would establish Palestinian state
- DevelopingJustice Solberg slaps heavy fines on ministers for filming political videos in their offices
- StrongElections committee orders Ben Gvir to remove flotilla abuse video, fines NIS 23,000
Source and signal
- Open-source intake