Solberg ruled: No impediment to distributing Ben Gvir's children's book

The Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Solberg, rejected this morning (Tuesday) a petition that sought to ban the free distribution of the children's book "The Minister Who Didn't Stop," which deals with the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which filed the petition yesterday, argued that the distribution of the book constitutes a violation of election law in several aspects. According to their claim, it involves election propaganda given as a gift, involving children in election propaganda, and using public assets for propaganda purposes.

Regarding the latter claim, the movement noted that on the cover of the book, which is illustrated and written in rhyme and deals with Ben Gvir, there appear, among other things, an illustration of the Attorney General and a police car. Solberg requested the response of Minister Ben Gvir and the Otzma Yehudit party only regarding the issue of gift-giving. After receiving their response, he decided this morning to reject the petition.

The current petition joins a series of proceedings that have reached Solberg's desk in recent months regarding Ben Gvir. In March, the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee ordered the minister to remove two videos filmed in a police boat and in a prison, after determining that it was election propaganda using public assets illegally.

In June, Solberg accepted another petition against Ben Gvir and ordered the removal of a video filmed at a detention facility in the Port of Ashdod in the presence of Israel Prison Service (SHABAS) personnel. On the other hand, just last week, Solberg rejected a petition that sought to prevent Ben Gvir from participating in an appreciation event for police volunteers and standby squads, contrary to the position of the Attorney General.