Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit ruled that Prime Minister Netanyahu should refrain from utilizing photos of his trips to IDF bases as election propaganda.
Mandelblit said that political candidates are forbidden from using any photos of IDF soldiers and bases in election campaign material. His ruling came in response to an appeal by the Labor party, which wanted him to issue an injunction against Netanyahu forbidding him from using pictures of his meeting with IDF officers for the Likud's campaign.
"It is prohibited to use the IDF in election propaganda, such as utilizing IDF soldiers, publishing their pictures together with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense and/or with any candidate on any party list," wrote the jurist."
As Defense Minister, Netanyahu has made many visits to IDF bases, leading to charges that he is exploiting his position for buttress his security credentials ahead of the April elections.
Last week, numerous reports said that senior IDF officers had asked not to be involved in the visits as to not take part in what they felt was Netanyahu's election campaign.