Yesh Atid fined for using Holocaust survivors’ info in campaign

The Justice Ministry fines the opposition Yesh Atid party NIS 40,000 ($11,000) for using “sensitive,” personal information on Israeli Holocaust survivors for political campaigning purposes during the 2015 election.

According to a statement from the ministry, the party requested and received the information from The Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors, an umbrella group headed by former lawmaker Colette Avital.

Avital, who is also fined NIS 10,000 ($2,760) by the ministry, handed over files to the political party without the consent of the survivors and without completing the formal, legally mandated registration process.

Yesh Atid proceeded to use this “sensitive” and “personal” information to campaign to survivors, including through direct mail, the ministry says, in what it described as an illegal breach of the survivors’ privacy.

The party says in a statement Wednesday the incident was a “one-time mishap done during an election campaign, in good faith, and with no knowledge that the practice is improper.”

— Marissa Newman