Is it true that the use of the Ukrainian flag was banned in Israel?

At the beginning of March 2023, Russian media and bloggers spread the news that the Israeli authorities had imposed a large fine for the use of Ukrainian symbols. We decided to check if this is true.

On March 4, she wrote about the ban on the demonstration of Ukrainian symbols in Israel “Russian newspaper» is the official publication of the Russian government. The newspaper referred to a pro-Russian website Kherson-news, and he, in turn, to the TV channel operating in the occupied territories of UkraineTavria" The news quickly spread across social networks: a TV presenter wrote about it on Telegram Ruslan Ostashko (the post on his channel at the time of writing this analysis received more than 150,000 views), head of the Federation Council Committee on Defense Victor Bondarev, former official representative of the authorities of the self-proclaimed DPR Eduard Basurin and a regular guest of programs on Russian federal television channels, Israeli Yakov Kedmi.

No sources such as links to publications in the Israeli media, statements of officials or entries in registers of legislative acts are mentioned either on the Tavriya TV channel or in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Bloggers cite the same evidence - two videos from TikTok. These videos (at least one of them was published on February 27) are the very first mention of the news. Unknown bloggers, without citing no sources of information, they talked about the introduction of a fine since the beginning of March. Now and first, And second video is not available.

"Russian newspaper", as mentioned above, did not provide any evidence. But in addition to the published news, she recalled that earlier members of the Jerusalem City Council criticized the municipality for projecting Ukrainian and Russian flags on the walls of the Old City. The publication refers to the publication in the newspaper Haaretz. This really happened, but it happened a year ago, in March 2022.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta forgot to clarify that it was not the Ukrainian flag that caused the outrage, but the Russian one. Haaretz cites the opinion of Ofer Berkovich, who was on the city council at the time. According to him, we should not forget who the aggressor is in this conflict, and therefore, the politician believes, the equivalence of flags is inappropriate. Haaretz journalist Nir Hasson at the same time wrote on Twitter: “While the municipalities of London, Paris, Rome, Melbourne, Berlin and other cities hang Ukrainian flags on public buildings as a sign of sympathy for the victims, the Jerusalem municipality paints flags of both sides on the walls. What kind of disgrace is this? Thus, the addition about the discussion around the Ukrainian flag, the constant display of which has allegedly long been dissatisfied in Israel, misleads the reader.

It is also impossible to find the very law that “local residents” are talking about in the video. Website Newsru.co.il, who examined in detail the story about the ban on the Ukrainian flag, believes that tiktokers (and after them the official publication of the Russian government) misinterpreted the February statements of the Knesset member Zvi Sukkot, a representative of the right-wing Otzma Yehudit party. Sukkot put forward a legislative initiative to impose a fine of 10,000 shekels (approximately $2,750) for displaying flags of terrorist organizations. He proposed an amendment to the existing law of 2016 “On the fight against terror,” which provides for liability for “publicly expressing solidarity with a terrorist or terrorist organization, expressing sympathy for a terrorist, burning the Israeli flag, publishing symbols of terrorist organizations.” However, the flags of Palestinian organizations can still be seen in Israel, which is what the deputy draws attention to.

But again, it is not clear what this has to do with the Ukrainian flag. Deputy Zvi Sukkot, known for his fight against Palestinians and against Palestinian flags, spoke specifically about Palestinian symbols. Israeli Channel 14 leads his words: “An immediate hit to the pocket will weaken motivation, this decision will avoid incitement to violence and will save Jewish lives.” That is, it is unlikely that the Sukkot initiative can be considered anything other than a struggle against internal opponents. Finally, his amendment has not yet been adopted and no one faces a fine.

In social networks in recent days (when, according to bloggers, displaying the Ukrainian flag is already punishable by a fine), you can find many photographs with that very “forbidden” symbol. Here, for example, photo from Jerusalem:

But recent photo from Tel Aviv beach:

Thus, the news spread about a law adopted in Israel providing for a large fine for displaying the Ukrainian flag is untrue. There is no such law, and so far no one has even come up with such a proposal. Finally, in comments fact-checking site StopFake, the Israeli Embassy in Ukraine stated that “Israel has never prohibited and does not prohibit the display of the Ukrainian flag.”

Cover photo: rally in Tel Aviv in support of Ukraine, February 24, 2023. Source: Newsru.co.il

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Newsru.co.il. Russian and pro-Russian media are spreading fake news about the “ban of Ukrainian symbols in Israel”.
2. StopFake. Fake: Israel has banned the use of the Ukrainian flag.
3. Is it true that a poster “No flags” was hung at a Ukrainian refugee camp in Spain?"?