Netanyahu ordered to remove video filmed at IDF airbase from his personal social media

Central Elections Committee chair Noam Sohlberg on Tuesday ordered the removal from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal social media accounts of a video filmed at an IDF Air Force base in which the premier warns of a possible attack on Israel ahead of the October 27 vote.

Sohlberg, who is also deputy president of the Supreme Court, said the video includes “elements of election propaganda” and noted that Netanyahu “throughout the video used the first person a lot.”

But the video, which Netanyahu uploaded on both his personal and official accounts last Tuesday, also “sends a public message to other countries,” Sohlberg said.

He added that the premier’s official accounts are for “sending a message on behalf of the state,” whereas the personal accounts are for sending “a message on behalf of the candidate.”

“Once the video was published on the official accounts, it’s unclear what official need there is for publishing on the personal accounts,” Sohlberg said.

In addition to removing the video from Netanyahu’s personal accounts, the premier and his Likud party were also ordered to pay NIS 2,500 ($820) in expenses to the activist lawyer group that had petitioned the CEC against the video.

In the video, Netanyahu said there were “indications” that “our enemies will try to attack us” ahead of the election.

“I’m sending you a message: Don’t mess with us — not now, and not ever,” said Netanyahu, who was standing in front of a fighter jet at the Tel Nof airbase.

Military sources cited by Hebrew media at the time said the IDF had not raised its alert level or seen any specific indication that Israel’s enemies were planning an attack.

Following Netanyahu’s vague warning, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid demanded and received a security update from the premier, who initially tried to avoid personally discussing the matter with Lapid.

The opposition leader said after his meeting with Netanyahu that there was “no reason to panic the public,” and accused the premier of using the IDF as an election campaign prop.

The next day, after an Omani copilot tried to crash a flydubai flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, Lapid said no such scenario had come up in the security update.

The hijacking attempt was thwarted by the Indian captain and Israeli passengers. Subsequent reporting has revealed the Omani copilot had a history of jihadist statements on social media and was banned from flying in Oman because of concern over his extremist views.

Lapid and other opposition heads have since slammed Netanyahu for the security lapses that emerged in the wake of the hijacking attempt, including the fact that a plane en route to Tel Aviv could be flown by an openly jihadist pilot from a country that has no diplomatic ties to Israel.