CEC Chairman: Netanyahu promises housing for reservists - this is prohibited campaigning

Central Elections Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg ruled that publications by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Construction Minister Haim Katz about a subsidized housing program for reservists constitute election campaigning. The judge ordered the removal of the posts from social media, citing a gap between the promises and the program's actual status, which has not been approved.

Chairman of the Central Elections Committee (CEC) Noam Sohlberg, who also serves as Deputy President of the Supreme Court, ruled that publications by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Construction Minister Haim Katz about a subsidized housing program for reservists constitute election campaigning. Sohlberg ordered the removal of these posts from social media, stating that state resources were illegally used in their creation. The program in question, "From Reserve to Apartment," was presented as a finished product, though it had not been approved. The publications promised the ability to purchase about 20,000 apartments or plots, discounts of over 500,000 shekels, and increased priority in housing lotteries. Sohlberg emphasized a significant gap between the news presented by politicians at a press conference on August 9 and the program's actual state. The ruling was made on two consolidated petitions filed by attorney Yaron Meiri and the association "Guardian of Israeli Democracy." A second part of the ruling concerns a speech by Netanyahu on October 5 at the opening of a government meeting, where he linked his tenure to security achievements. Sohlberg determined that this part of the speech also contained campaign materials and ordered the prime minister to reimburse costs of 29,000 shekels for using state resources for political purposes.