Rania Abushamala
04 October 2026•Update: 04 October 2026
Israel's Central Elections Committee chairman ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to remove social media videos that used military and public resources without authorization, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
Justice Noam Sohlberg ruled that the videos constituted election campaigning and upheld five of six petitions filed against Netanyahu over his recent social media posts, according to the newspaper.
One video showed Netanyahu visiting an Israeli military outpost in southern Lebanon.
Sohlberg ruled that the video primarily highlighted the achievements of the government and prime minister, while footage focused on boosting morale and honoring soldiers had been removed during editing.
"This is, of course, a campaign ad," Sohlberg wrote in his decision.
He ordered Netanyahu to remove the posts from his social media accounts and pay the petitioners 29,000 shekels ($9,500) in legal fees.
The ruling followed a similar decision last week against National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over a social media video showing him confronting Palestinian prisoner Hassan Salameh.
A petition against that video argued that filming inside a prison violated the prohibition on using public property for election propaganda.
Sohlberg ruled in favor of the petitioners, finding that Ben-Gvir had boasted about his actions, outlined his future political plans and conveyed a personal message that he alone served as a deterrent.
"The purpose of the video is election propaganda, not deterrence," Sohlberg ruled.
Israel will hold its general elections on Oct. 27.
Coalition parties led by Netanyahu's Likud are competing against opposition parties, with recent polls indicating a close race and neither camp securing the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.
Netanyahu has led the current government since late December 2022. It has been described as the most right-wing government in Israel's history.
He faces corruption charges, and the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for him over war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
