The Central Elections Committee on Thursday fined Eli Yishai's Yachad party NIS 4,000 for displaying images of a 12-year-old child in an elections ad. The Committee issued the fine in response to a complaint by the parents of the child, who said that they had not given her permission for the child's image.
According to the complaint, a filming crew asked the child, along with a friend, to appear on camera, representing themselves as news reporters, and promising that they would be seen on a news broadcast that night. They attached stickers with the name of the party on their clothing and had them hold signs, portraying them as supporters of the party.
The crew also offered them payment to appear on other broadcasts, the complaint said.
In his decision, Committee chairman Salim Jubran said that “despite the response by the party that they found these two children in the mall 'by chance' and began filming them, the continuation of the story indicates that this was not the case, as the two children were holding signs, appearing as supporters of the party.” As the use of children in election campaign ads is not permitted, Jubran fined the party NIS 4,000.