The chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, today (Monday) rejected the petition against the Likud video called 'ISIS video.
The video shows several actors posing as operatives of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" driving in a vehicle in a desert environment and waving flags of the organization. It should be noted that the vehicle has a sticker saying "Not Bibi."
The vehicle stops next to another vehicle and one of the actors, who pretends to be activists in the organization, asks, in an Arabic accent: "How do we get to Jerusalem, my brother?" The driver of the other vehicle answers him, "Take a left."
Immediately afterwards, the screen read: "The left will surrender to terror." At the end of the video, the slogan of the Likud list in the elections appears.
Judge Gibran writes in his decision: "The petitioner bases his (laconic) petition on a number of offenses listed in the Penal Law, 5737-1973, including, in his words - publishing incitement to racism, prohibition on possessing racist advertising, incitement to violence or terrorism, possession of advertising inciting violence and terrorism."
The Likud Party claimed that "the petition should be rejected outright and on its merits..." The Likud Party further claimed that, in its opinion, this is "a satirical video that sought to convey messages through comedic means. A reasonable viewer who watches his film knows that this is a completely imaginary situation..."
As mentioned, Judge Gibran rejected the petition.
In his decision, Judge Gibran notes, among other things: ".... His authority does not include the suppression of propaganda that is not acceptable. The video is protected by the right to freedom of political expression, which can only be restricted if there is a near certainty that it will cause serious and grave harm to the interest.
"...I accept the Likud's position, according to which the dominant motif in the video is the political message embodied in it in relation to the party's security concept and its leader..."
The judge adds in his decision: "For my part, I believe that it would have been better if the Likud had chosen to convey this message in a positive way rather than through negation, and not by using motifs that allegedly link the political left to a terrorist organization, but of course, this does not justify the concealment of the video."
The judge ruled that the petitioner will bear the respondent's expenses in the amount of 2,500 NIS.
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