From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Elections panel orders Netanyahu to take down video featuring selfies with kids
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Central Elections Committee issues a temporary injunction ordering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove a video posted online featuring the premier meeting and taking selfies with children at the Malha Mall in Jerusalem, saying it violates campaign regulations.
Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg accepted a petitioner’s argument that the video constituted a “violation of the prohibition against involving children in election propaganda” and ruled that “the video may be re-uploaded if the segments showing children in personal contact with Netanyahu are edited out,” according to a statement by the committee. Large portions of the video show the premier interacting with children.
Sohlberg’s statement added that “deliberations on the petition will continue until a final ruling is rendered, following the receipt of formal responses from the prime minister and the Likud party.”
This isn’t the first time Netanyahu has run into trouble for putting kids in a campaign ad. In 2015, he was ordered to take down an ad that showed him as a kindergarten teacher trying to keep control of an unruly class, meant to represent his former coalition partners.
The Times of Israel Community.