Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs Israel’s Central Elections Committee, ruled Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must remove several posts for improperly using the IDF and state resources for campaign propaganda—and pay tens of thousands of shekels in legal costs to the petitioners.
In his decision, Sohlberg wrote that “we cannot accept the blurring of lines between state-security needs and political campaign propaganda,” sharply criticizing what he described as the prime minister’s use of his position and military assets for personal political purposes.
Sohlberg fully accepted petitions concerning a June 15, 2026 press conference and a meeting with the IDF’s senior command forum, ruling that these events “crossed the Rubicon” and became an improper propaganda platform. He ordered their immediate removal from both official and personal channels.
The judge also partially accepted petitions regarding a visit to southern Lebanon and an officers’ course graduation ceremony at the Officers Training School, ordering removal of specific segments that included self-glorification and blatant campaign messaging.
However, Sohlberg rejected petitions concerning other events, including the naming of “Bible Road” and security messages regarding Iran, finding that these remained within the legitimate bounds of factual public reporting.
For the accepted petitions and crossing of lines, Netanyahu was ordered to pay legal costs to the petitioners, which include the Israeli Democracy Watch and Voters for Israel organizations.