The chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Sohlberg, has ordered Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and his Religious Zionism party to immediately remove an election campaign video from all of their social media platforms after ruling that it could mislead voters.
The petitions centered on a video posted to Smotrich's Facebook page showing a figure resembling Gadi Eisenkot shaking hands with Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, before MK Mansour Abbas joins them. The scenes were created using artificial intelligence but were presented in a realistic manner, with only a caption noting that the video had been edited using AI.
In his decision, Sohlberg ruled that the video depicts events and political relationships that never occurred and could falsely lead viewers to believe they were real. He said the content creates the impression of political ties between Eisenkot and Mansour Abbas that do not exist, violating the legal prohibition against unfair interference in election propaganda.
The judge also rejected the argument that the AI disclaimer was sufficient, stating that Facebook users are unlikely to notice the label consistently because of the way the platform displays content. He therefore ordered Smotrich and his party to delete the video from all digital platforms under their control.