Skirting electioneering restrictions, Netanyahu turns to voters via Facebook

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday works around existing electioneering laws that forbid campaigning on Election Day by taking to Facebook constantly and repeatedly throughout the day.

Israel’s electioneering laws, most of them written in the 1950s, are specific about restrictions on radio and television advertising, as well as media interviews and public signs and posters — but are famously silent on more modern avenues of communications like social media. An attempt to update the laws in the outgoing Knesset was stymied — by Likud.

With Facebook an open and permitted platform, some parties are taking advantage, especially Likud, while rival Blue and White appears to be relying more on its activists on the ground and photo ops of its leaders to mobilize support.

Netanyahu started election day with a live question-and-answer session on Facebook.

After voting, he posted a video imploring voters to head to the polls and vote for Likud. Striking a personal note, the prime minister and his wife next released a video from outside the polling station after voting at the school their sons attended.

After voting, Netanyahu and his wife Sara headed to the party’s get-out-the-vote phone banks where he called potential voters to encourage them to vote for Likud, although the one call he made on camera was less than successful due to the combination of a bad phone connection and disbelief from “Dalia” on the other end of the line.

“I encourage you to go out and vote, and to vote for Likud, so that we can continue our work,” the prime minister said.

He told the woman on the other end of the line to check Facebook so that she can see that it really was Netanyahu. When it appeared the woman was unable to check the social network, Netanyahu asked his wife to speak to the woman in a further attempt to prove that it was really them.

“We are happy to hear you will be voting Likud,” Sara said.