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Netanyahu in the campaign video

Council for the Child: Likud campaign video illegally makes use of children

Video that shows Netanyahu surrounded by his rivals, portrayed by children in a kindergarten, breaks election law that forbids use of children under 15 for election propaganda.

Director-General of the Israel National Council for the Child, Dr. Yitzhak Kadman, said Saturday he will turn to Central Election Committee Director Salim Joubran on Sunday and ask him to stop the distribution of a Likud campaign video in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rivals are portrayed as kindergarten children.

 

 

In the campaign video, Netanyahu is the one adult in a kindergarten populated by his rivals - played by children - who are wreaking havoc on the room.

 

Netanyahu tells little Avigdor Lieberman that he "must learn how to share with the other children," and tells little Yair Lapid to stop playing with the abacus counting toy that Lapid is violently shaking, because he "will break it."

 

When little Lapid and little Naftali Bennett fight over a chair during a game of musical chairs, Netanyahu tells them off, and tells a hyperactive little Tzipi Livni to "stop running from one place to another." Little Bennett is shown playing with tanks.

 

"This is a waste of time, we can't continue with this kindergarten," Netanyahu then decides, with the final message being: "To run a country, you need a strong and stable government."

 

"We view the cynical use of small children for election propaganda very gravely," Kadman said. "It is particularly unfortunate that this is done by a big ruling party that is supposed to know the law and respect it."

 

Amendment 18 to the Election Law states that a child under the age of 15 cannot participate in election propaganda. Participation of children in campaign videos is forbidden, unless it is a video or a photo showing a child engaging in normal activity.

 

"They took very small children, and made inappropriate and illegal use in them only for the sake of slamming other parties," Kadman said.

 

Kadman said the Israel National Council for the Child will complain to the head of the Election Committee of the violation of the law, and ask him to work to prevent other parties of breaking this law.

 

The Likud party said in response that "this is one campaign video of many. It was prepared but was not approved for broadcast. The video was filmed based on a legal opinion prepared beforehand by the Likud's legal adviser, and after the required permissions were obtained, including the parents' permissions. Unfortunately, due to a technical error, the video went online even though it was not approved for release and broadcast by the Likud campaign."

 

The Zionist Camp (Labor-Hatnua) said in response to the video: "It's a shame Bibi did not actually visit kindergartens to see the kids who have nothing to eat, or the kids of the Gaza border communities and Sderot who were afraid to go to kindergarten while he was talking to Hamas. We, unlike Bibi, think of the children of Israel before anything else when making decisions, while he only thinks of himself. This is Bibi - self-absorbed, neglecting children and letting them go hungry for 6 years, but does not hesitate to use them for election propaganda. In two months, the future and welfare of the children of Israel will be in safe hands."

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.17.15, 22:13
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