Israel’s Central Elections Committee has ordered National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to remove a controversial video filmed at the detention facility holding activists from the “Sumud” flotilla to Gaza, ruling that it constituted election propaganda using state resources.

The decision was issued by committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg following a petition filed by the Movement for Quality Government. The organization argued that the video, which showed Ben Gvir touring the Ashdod Port detention facility while flotilla activists were being held there in handcuffs, amounted to election propaganda using public assets.

Sohlberg ruled that the video constituted election propaganda because it was filmed at an Israel Prison Service facility, featured uniformed prison service personnel, and was published on Ben Gvir’s personal social media accounts, demonstrating what he described as a clear campaign purpose.

In addition to ordering the video removed, the committee ordered Ben Gvir to pay NIS 23,000 in legal expenses.

Attorney Tomer Naor, Deputy Director of Legal Affairs and Strategy at the Movement for Quality Government, welcomed the ruling, saying that when a government minister turns state facilities, prison service uniforms, and security personnel into tools for an election campaign, it harms public trust and the nonpartisan character of public office.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)