The Likud-Beytenu joint list breached the Election Law by hiring singer Sarit
Hadad to perform at a campaign event and could face criminal charges, the
Central Elections Committee’s Justice Elyakim Rubinstein ruled on
Friday.
Rubenstein will hand the case to Attorney- General Yehuda
Weinstein.
Yesh Atid submitted a formal complaint to the committee
shortly after the event last month, pointing out that Article 8 of the Election
Propaganda Law forbids using “entertainment programs” in campaigns.
The
law specifically bans hiring singers.
“Breaking the law was not enough
for Likud Beytenu’s list of candidates; rather, they made sure to invite the
media to show the entire public how they broke the law,” the complaint
reads.
Yesh Atid also wrote that Likud Beytenu knew that Hadad’s
appearance was prohibited, pointing to media reports that the latter party
reported the expense to the state comptroller and was warned of its
illegality.
Singer Dudu Fisher performed two songs at the Likud-Beytenu
event but was not mentioned in Yesh Atid’s complaint.
Likud Beytenu
responded last month that, in contrast to what Yesh Atid says, it was not warned
by the State Comptroller’s Office or Rubinstein against hiring
Haddad.
“Likud Beytenu has a legal opinion authorizing the show as legal.
Likud Beytenu paid for the show, unlike other parties that invited artists to
perform for free, which is a forbidden donation and a crime, according to the
Party Funding Law,” the party said, in reference to singer Efrat Gosh, who
appeared at a Labor Party event.
According to Likud Beytenu, a free
performance by the singer is worth more than NIS 15,000, the maximum campaign
donation permissible by law.
Meanwhile, Labor responded that the party
discovered long before Likud Beytenu pointed it out that it would be illegal for
Gosh to perform for free, and had already partly paid her and her band.