Netanyahu speech to be aired at 5-minute delay

Central Elections Committee chairman justice Salim Joubran decides that for fear that it may be exploited for campaigning purposes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on March 3 will be aired at a five-minute delay, so that news editors in TV and radio stations can monitor it and cut out parts which may be considered campaigning, Ynet reports.

Editors will watch the live feed and decide whether the prime minister’s words do not violate any laws on campaigning. In case they do those passages will be cut before being aired.

Joubran decided that the speech be aired at a short delay following a request by Meretz head Zahava Galon and Labor candidate Eldad Yaniv, who initially sought to completely prohibit airing it, on the claim that Netanyahu’s decision to speak in itself constitutes a campaigning trick.