JERUSALEM — Supreme Court Deputy President Justice Noam Sohlberg ordered National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to remove a video from his social media accounts and pay NIS 8,000 in legal costs. The ruling determined that the video, which depicted a flotilla incident, violated election law by using public assets for political purposes.

Justice Sohlberg accepted a petition filed by the Movement for Quality Government. The court ruled that the video violated Section 2A of the Elections Law (Election Propaganda Methods), 1959, because it constituted election propaganda through the use of public assets. The petition had requested the video's removal within four days.

The 38-second video showed Mr. Ben-Gvir touring a detention facility at the Port of Ashdod among bound Sumud flotilla activists while waving an Israeli flag. Mr. Ben-Gvir did not remove the video within the requested four-day timeframe. The movement subsequently filed a petition with the Central Elections Committee.

Justice Sohlberg applied a dominant purpose test, determining that filming inside an Israel Prison Service facility with uniformed personnel and then publishing the footage on personal accounts indicated a political campaigning purpose. The court found that the footage contained elements intended to feature the minister's achievements and political positions. The ruling stated that state assets, including uniforms, facilities, and security personnel, belong to the public and cannot be used as tools in a private election campaign. In addition to Mr. Ben-Gvir's legal costs, Justice Sohlberg ordered the National Security Ministry and the Israel Prison Service to jointly pay NIS 15,000 in legal costs.

Tomer Naor, deputy director general for law and strategy at the Movement for Quality Government, said, "When a government minister turns state facilities, Israel Prison Service uniforms and security personnel into tools in his election campaign, he is not only breaking the law, he is undermining public trust and the state character of his role." Naor added, "Today's decision establishes that using public assets for political purposes comes at a price." He said, "We will continue to stand guard across all arenas and ensure that electoral integrity is preserved."