Billboard battle ramps up campaign in Histadrut race
"Ask yourself at whose expense the other side has millions for billboards," taunted the billboard mocking Avi Nissenkorn.
By GIL HOFFMAN
Histadrut labor federation leadership candidate MK Shelly Yacimovich reserved one billboard ahead of the May 23 election, mocking the hundreds of billboards across the country for incumbent candidate Avi Nissenkorn.The sign on the Ayalon Freeway features Yacimovich’s standard “Hi, this is Shelly” slogan and questions how Nissenkorn funded his many billboards.“This is my only sign where I will advertise,” the billboard says. “Ask yourself at whose expense the other side has millions for billboards.”Yacimovich’s campaign said it wanted poor workers who saw the sign to wonder why they should pay for Nissenkorn’s advertising out of their union dues. She promised that if elected, the dues would only be used to fight for workers’ wages and benefits.Nissenkorn’s spokeswoman responded by calling the billboard “more political spin from a candidate running the most negative campaign in the Histadrut’s history.” She accused Yacimovich of spending a huge sum on Internet ads and then pretending that she is not spending anything on the race.The campaigns of both candidates receive a budget from the Histadrut for the campaign.Following a Channel 2 investigation that found that both candidates have registered people as members of the Histadrut without their knowledge, the labor federation will investigate the matter.