Justice Noam Solberg, chair of Israel's Central Elections Committee, ruled Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used five out of six official events for prohibited election propaganda and ordered him to pay NIS 29,000 in personal expenses to the petitioners, according to N12 reporter Daphna Liel. The events include a press conference on Iran, an IDF senior forum assessment, and a visit to southern Lebanon.
Justice Noam Solberg, chair of Israel's Central Elections Committee, ruled Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu violated election law by using official state events for campaign propaganda. Solberg accepted five of six detailed claims submitted by petitioners, who argued that events held in the Prime Minister's Office over recent months were leveraged for Netanyahu's electoral benefit. The ruling ordered Netanyahu to pay NIS 29,000 in personal expenses to cover the petitioners' legal costs.
The six contested events included a press conference regarding Iran, a security assessment with the IDF's senior forum, and a visit to southern Lebanon — all of which, Solberg found, deviated from their stated official purpose and included prohibited campaign messaging. The ruling expands on earlier committee decisions that have sought to restrict the use of public resources and official platforms for electoral purposes during active election periods.
As The Zioneer reported earlier Sunday, the ruling is the latest in a series by Solberg addressing the intersection of state resources and political campaigning. Previous rulings have targeted cabinet ministers and former officials who used official offices, military imagery, or government platforms in campaign content, reinforcing the committee's stance during the current election cycle.
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Source and signal
- Open-source intake