Israel Bar Association head Amit Becher sent a warning letter to the Religious Zionist Party and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday, demanding the immediate removal of an AI-generated campaign video and warning that the association would otherwise petition the Central Elections Committee.
The Bar Association's National Council approved Becher's proposal to send the letter and also decided to seek the issuance of an official condemnation and to approach the Israel Police with a demand for an investigation.
The warning letter demanded that the party immediately remove the campaign video uploaded on Tuesday.
The video depicts Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, Supreme Court Justice Daphne Barak-Erez, and Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara being forcibly and violently dragged from a demonstration on the Ayalon Highway by civilians dressed in black and wearing reflective vests.
Israel Bar Association demands RZP deletes AI-generated campaign video
"The message in the video is a violent, inciting message that presents the judges and the attorney-general as enemies of the public... The violence directed at the senior heads of the law-enforcement system is reminiscent of dark regimes that, as part of their rise to power, remove representatives of the law from their path," Becher wrote in his letter.
"This is not the way of Zionism, Judaism, or the State of Israel. The video is not legitimate criticism, but rather an attempt to intimidate, undermine public confidence in the rule of law, and interfere with the proper conduct of the elections in violation of the law," the letter stated.
Becher demanded that the party leadership immediately remove the video from all platforms and social media networks, halt any paid promotion or distribution of it, and provide a written commitment that it would not be published again.
If the demands are not met, Becher said the Israel Bar Association would immediately approach the chairman of the Central Elections Committee and request injunctions and emergency orders to stop what it described as improper, election-inciting propaganda.
Yashar tells RZP AI-generated video harms Baharav-Miara's standing
At the same time, the Yashar party also sent a warning letter, through attorney Uri Haberman, to Smotrich and the Religious Zionist Party, demanding the video's immediate removal.
The letter claimed that the video depicts Amit, Barak-Erez, and Baharav-Miara as though they had taken part in a political demonstration against Smotrich, rioted, and were forcibly dragged away by police officers.
According to Yashar, the video amounts to the offense of contempt of court under Section 255 of the Penal Code, which prohibits publishing statements about a judge in connection with the judge's office with the aim of harming the judge's standing, casting suspicion on the judge or bringing the administration of justice into contempt.
The party further claimed that the offense carries a sentence of up to three years in prison and that the video makes prohibited use of the likenesses and official status of senior judicial officials for election propaganda.
"This is not criticism of the judicial system, but the creation of a false reality that attributes political and criminal conduct that never occurred to senior officials in state institutions. Smotrich has turned their likenesses and the state institutions they represent into raw material for his election campaign,” the party stated.
"Fabricating a video in which judges and the attorney-general are presented as lawbreakers is dangerous incitement and a license for bloodshed. Smotrich is once again proving that, as far as he is concerned, there is no red line he will not cross and no state institution he will not trample for one more vote at the ballot box."
Yashar has demanded that the video be removed from all accounts and advertising channels and that its distribution cease by 3 p.m.