Use of public resources in election propaganda: what section 2A prohibits

What exactly section 2A prohibits

Section 2A of the Elections (Modes of Propaganda) Law, 5719-1959 provides that no use shall be made, in connection with election propaganda, of funds or of tangible or intangible assets of an audited body within the meaning of paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4) and (9) of section 9 of the State Comptroller Law, 5718-1958 [Consolidated Version] (חוק מבקר המדינה, התשי״ח-1958 [נוסח משולב]), or of a corporation in whose management or capital the government or a local authority participates; and no such use shall be made of land or movable property actually held by such a body or corporation.

Three extensions are built into the wording, and each one is worth noting. The first: the asset does not have to be tangible. The Law expressly also covers intangible assets. The second: ownership is not a condition. It is enough that the land or movable property is actually held by the body. The third: the prohibition does not require the asset to belong to “the State” as such. It refers to a wide circle of audited bodies and of corporations in which the government or a local authority is a partner.

Which bodies are included? The paragraphs of section 9 of the State Comptroller Law to which section 2A refers are: every government ministry (paragraph 1); every enterprise or institution of the State (paragraph 2); every person or body that holds State property other than under a contract, or manages or supervises it on behalf of the State (paragraph 3); every local authority (paragraph 4); and every general workers’ organization (a national workers’ organization operating as a trade union in more than one branch of work) and every body in whose management such an organization participates (paragraph 9).

The words “in connection with” are also broad. The asset does not have to be the subject of the propaganda. It is enough that it was used in connection with the propaganda.

The prohibition applies all year round, not only in the election period

Section 2 of the Law provides that its prohibitions and restrictions apply, as a rule, in the period of 90 days before election day and on election day. But the same section makes an express exception: the prohibitions and restrictions under sections 2A, 2A1, 4, 12 and 13 will apply even outside that period. (In a Temporary Provision in force from 23 July 2026 until 26 October 2027, section 2A2 was also added to the list. It concerns propaganda that is a “deepfake”.)

This is a point that is missed regularly. A publication made a year before the elections is not immune from section 2A. In the Central Elections Committee decision in CEC case (תב״כ) 28-31, 33/26 of 31 May 2026, for example, videos posted from 24 August 2025 onward were discussed, about eight months before the petitions were filed, and it was held that as long as the videos are available and voters may come across them, an order may be given against the continuation of the offense under section 17B(a).

The two exceptions in section 2A

The section qualifies the prohibition with two exceptions only:

• Paragraph (1): use, for payment or without payment, of halls and open public places that are normally available for such use. The logic: a place that is open to public use for this purpose anyway gives no advantage to whoever uses it.
• Paragraph (2): use of assets placed by the State at the disposal of a minister, deputy minister or Knesset member, or placed by the local authority at the disposal of the head of the authority, including filming as such, in the office of any of them. At the end of the paragraph the Law makes clear that its provisions do not detract from restrictions on the use of such assets imposed under any law or rules of ethics.

The words “including filming as such, in the office of any of them” are a new addition. Until July 2026 they did not appear in the Law.

Amendment No. 42 of July 2026: what exactly changed

On 16 July 2026 the Knesset passed the Elections to the Twenty-Sixth Knesset (Special Provisions and Legislative Amendments) Law, 5786-2026 (חוק הבחירות לכנסת העשרים ושש (הוראות מיוחדות ותיקוני חקיקה), התשפ״ו-2026), and it was published on the same day in Sefer HaHukim (the official gazette of statutes) 3546, page 762 (the amending provisions are on pages 767–768). Section 8(2) of the Law provides: “In section 2A(2), after ‘of the head of the authority’ shall come ‘including filming as such, in the office of any of them’”. This is Amendment No. 42 to the Elections (Modes of Propaganda) Law. Section 9 of the same Law adds an identical provision in section 28Y3(a)(2) of the Parties Law, 5752-1992 (חוק המפלגות, התשנ״ב-1992), for propaganda in primary elections.

The explanatory notes to the bill (Knesset Bills 1209, 6 July 2026) link the amendment to the decisions of the Chairperson of the Central Elections Committee: “In light of decisions of the Chairperson of the Central Committee according to which there is a prohibition on filming propaganda photos and videos in a minister’s office in a government ministry... it is proposed to provide that filming as such in the office of these office holders will also not be deemed use”, i.e. prohibited use of public resources.

The scope of the permission was defined narrowly in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee (of the Knesset). The Committee’s legal adviser, Adv. Nitzan Rosenberg, explained in the session of 29 June 2026 that the words “in itself” limit the permission to filming only: “It is only the filming... it does not permit the use of an additional asset”. A representative of the Central Elections Committee made clear in the session of 13 July 2026 that until the amendment was enacted, the prohibition on filming in the office remained in force.

So what remains prohibited even after the amendment: using other public resources for propaganda (the office staff, the ministry’s equipment, the ministry’s official accounts and the state emblem); and the general prohibition in section 2A itself, which was not changed.

What counts as a public resource in practice: the lines drawn in 2026

Three decisions of the Chairperson of the Central Elections Committee for the 26th Knesset, Justice Noam Sohlberg, drew the line. They were given in petitions filed by the author of these lines.

• A minister’s office in a government ministry is a public resource. This was held in CEC case 28-31, 33/26 (31 May 2026), relying on CEC case 5/26 Ben Meir v. Ben Gvir (as quoted in CEC case 28-31, 33/26 and in CEC case 50-59/26). The argument that the office falls within the exception of “assets placed by the State at the disposal of a minister” was rejected, and so was the argument that such a prohibition would harm the minister’s ability to perform their role.
• An office in the Knesset building is not a public resource for the purposes of section 2A. This was held in CEC case 50-52, 54-59/26 (16 June 2026), on the reasoning that Knesset members’ offices were given to them for their political needs and not for state needs, and so they do not give an advantage of public resources over other candidates.
• A side room on the government floor of the Prime Minister’s Office is a public resource. The same decision held that there is no good reason to distinguish between such a room and a minister’s office: even if the minister did not use their own office, the room is still an asset of a government ministry, and candidates who are not ministers have no access to it.
• Official accounts of a government ministry are a public resource. In CEC case 20/26 (15 May 2026) it was held that a government ministry will not reshare on its official accounts Hebrew content from the minister’s personal-political account.
• What is not a public resource: it was held that using the title “minister” (in its male or female form) is not a use of public resources, and that the state flag is not a public resource for the purposes of section 2A either. The state emblem, by contrast, is a public resource.

The full picture, including what the amendment changed and what remains in place, is gathered on the page May a minister film election propaganda in their office?.

Enforcement: what happens to someone who breaks the law

Two routes. On the criminal level, section 17 of the Law provides that a person who breaches one of its provisions, or does not comply with a duty imposed on them under its provisions by the Chairperson of the Central Elections Committee, is liable to six months’ imprisonment or the fine set in section 61(a)(2) of the Penal Law, 5737-1977. The limitation period for an offense under the Law is three years (section 20).

On the practical level, the main route is a petition to the Chairperson of the Central Elections Committee for an injunction under section 17B, an order that prevents the commission of an offense under the Law or its continuation. It is a quick proceeding, and it is the one in which the rules described above were set. Its course, what is needed to succeed in it and what it may cost, I set out in the article A petition to the Chairperson of the Central Elections Committee: how it works. The preliminary question, when a publication is “election propaganda” at all, in the article what counts as election propaganda. General background: What counts as election propaganda? The tests in practice and Basic Laws in Israel. For inquiries about publications and public reputation: defamation and reputation.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a “public resource” for the propaganda ban? Section 2A applies to funds and to tangible or intangible assets of an audited body under paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4) and (9) of section 9 of the State Comptroller Law, or of a corporation in whose management or capital the government or a local authority participates, and also to land and movable property actually held by them. In the 2026 decisions it was held that a minister’s office in a government ministry, a room on the government floor of the Prime Minister’s Office, official ministry accounts and the state emblem are public resources, whereas the title “minister” and the state flag are not.

What did the July 2026 amendment to the law change? On 16 July 2026 the Elections to the Twenty-Sixth Knesset (Special Provisions and Legislative Amendments) Law, 5786-2026 was passed (Sefer HaHukim 3546, p. 762). Its section 8(2) added to section 2A(2) of the Elections (Modes of Propaganda) Law, after “of the head of the authority”, the words “including filming as such, in the office of any of them”: Amendment No. 42. Section 9 added an identical provision in section 28Y3(a)(2) of the Parties Law for primary elections.

Is it now allowed to film any propaganda in a minister’s office? The permission is limited to “filming as such”. The legal adviser of the Constitution Committee made clear in the session of 29 June 2026 that the words “in itself” limit the permission to filming only and do not permit the use of an additional asset. The general prohibition in section 2A was not changed, so using other public resources for propaganda (staff, equipment, the ministry’s official accounts and the state emblem) remains prohibited.

Does the ban apply only during the election period? No. Section 2 of the Law provides that the prohibitions apply, as a rule, in the 90 days before election day and on election day, but it expressly excludes sections 2A, 2A1, 4, 12 and 13 (and, in a Temporary Provision, also section 2A2), which apply outside that period too. In practice, CEC case 28-31, 33/26 dealt with videos posted about eight months before the petitions were filed, and it was held that as long as they are available to voters, an order may be given against the continuation of the breach.

A Knesset member’s office in the Knesset building: is it also a public resource? Not for the purposes of section 2A. In CEC case 50-52, 54-59/26 (16 June 2026) it was held that an office in the Knesset building does not have the features of “public resources” for the purposes of the section, unlike a minister’s office in a government ministry, because Knesset members’ offices were given to them for their political needs, and so they do not give an advantage of public resources over other candidates.

What is the sanction for using public resources for propaganda? On the criminal level, section 17 of the Law sets six months’ imprisonment or the fine in section 61(a)(2) of the Penal Law, and the limitation period for the offense is three years (section 20). On the practical level, the main route is a petition to the Chairperson of the Central Elections Committee for an injunction under section 17B (an order that prevents the commission of the offense or its continuation), together with an award of costs.