Bayit Yehudi’s advertisements are manipulative and deceitful, Likud Beytenu
wrote in a petition to the Central Elections Committee on Thursday evening,
against ads featuring both Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett and Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
The new campaign, launched on Wednesday,
features Netanyahu and Bennett’s pictures next to each other, with the slogan
“supporting Netanyahu, voting Bennett.”
The Bayit Yehudi officials said
the ads were meant to encourage Netanyahu to include the party in the next
coalition.
Likud Beytenu submitted a complaint to the Central Elections
Committee Thursday evening, demanding that the ads be removed immediately and
that they not appear in Friday’s newspapers.
“The purpose of the
advertisements is to deceive voters in the right-wing bloc, to mislead them and
to manipulate them in an unfair and forbidden way with a false message, as if
the prime minister is telling voters he has enough votes and his victory is
ensured, so he wants them to vote for Bennett,” the petition reads.
The
complaint also points out that Bennett may not be in the next coalition, and
says the advertisements falsely imply that he already negotiated with Netanyahu
about joining the next government.
“Such an agreement or understanding
never existed,” Likud Beytenu added.
A Bayit Yehudi spokeswoman responded
to the Likud Beytenu’s allegations, saying there is no reason for the latter
party to be concerned.
“We will be strong together with Prime Minister
Netanyahu after the elections, to solve social issues and strengthen Israel’s
deterrence,” the Bayit Yehudi said.
Likud Beytenu also posted a response
ad on social networks Thursday, doctoring the Bayit Yehudi advertisement to
include a quote by Bennett that “even Tzipi Livni would be better than
Netanyahu.”
Bennett said those words during the 10-month settlement
construction freeze, when he was director-general of the Yesha Council.
|