Shas, one of Israel’s major Charedi parties, has been ordered to remove a campaign ad for the upcoming Knesset elections because it featured depictions of an IDF soldier.
The faction launched its campaign for October’s elections with the video, which depicted a soldier dressed in a combat green T-shirt and with a firearm, but not wearing an IDF uniform, embracing his brother, a full-time yeshiva student, while the caption informed audiences that “more than 30,000 conscripts and career soldiers voted for Shas in the last election”.
“One son studies in a yeshiva, and his brother serves in the IDF, each contributing to the people of Israel in their own way,” it added.
New Shas campaign ad seems intent on fixing its hardline anti-conscription efforts' effect on its more traditional, Zionist voters pic.twitter.com/MKXPLBNy3j
The ad was an apparent attempt by the party to reclaim moderate voters turned off by its hardline opposition to attempts to conscript yeshiva students, which has led to several near collapses of the Netanyahu coalition government in the past year.
However, the Central Elections Committee, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, has issued an interim order to Shas leader Aryeh Deri instructing the party not to broadcast the ad again.
The ruling came after a complaint from Yashar, the centrist party led by prime ministerial hopeful and former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot, relating to rules prohibiting the use of images of the security services in electoral materials.
“This video is not merely election propaganda made in a manner ‘likely to create the impression that the Israel Defence Forces identifies with a party,’ but the claim is made explicitly,” wrote Yashar’s legal team.
“It is deeply outrageous that Shas chose to launch its campaign with an advertisement featuring IDF soldiers after working for three years of war to pass a draft evasion law and fully prioritising those who chose not to serve.”
Deri will now have two days to respond to the complaint, during which the ad cannot be broadcast, but Shas has previously insisted that “no IDF symbols were used whatsoever”.
“It depicts a family member returning home from base in civilian clothes to refute false propaganda, including from Eisenkot and his party, suggesting that Shas supports draft evasion.”
Both Yashar and Naftali Bennett’s Beyacahad parties have also been ordered to take down campaign ads in recent weeks as they featured IDF soldiers.
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