JERUSALEM, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of the Israeli Central Elections Committee Judge Elyakim Rubinstein has banned an ad campaign run by a far-right wing party over charges of racist and discriminatory against Arabs.
"The campaign was meant to degrade a single group in the State of Israel, the Arab population," Rubinstein explained Wednesday night.
The campaign ad, which was called "Otzma Leyisrael" (Force to Israel), ran on busses across Israel and read "without duties there are no rights."
"The racist rhetoric may also offend Jews," Rubinstein wrote in his decision.
"Jews have been discriminated against as a minority throughout our history and therefore the prevention of even a hint of racism against a minority living among us should be part of our genetic makeup," he added.
The controversial campaign prompted five different civil rights activists to file a complaint to the committee about its racist nature, charging that the ad was designed to slander a minority group.
Members of the party, Michael Ben Ari and Aryeh Eldad, said the campaign was legitimate. "It's unreasonable that using one of the formal languages would be considered racist. This is a legitimate campaign. We intend to appeal the outrageous decision, which harms the freedom of expression," the two said in a statement.
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