Israel places election campaign posters in Cyprus

An unusual political campaign has sparked heated controversy in Cyprus. Large billboards in Hebrew featuring former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot have appeared along motorways in the southern part of the island. The advertisements are not aimed at Cypriots, but at tens of thousands of Israelis who live in Cyprus or spend their holidays here, urging them to take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Israel.

According to sources, the billboards have been installed along busy roads, including the route to Larnaca Airport. One of them reads:

«Israelis, relax. You deserve it»

while another says —

«Had your rest? Now come back and win»

hinting at the need to return to Israel to vote.

The appearance of foreign political advertising has triggered a strong reaction in Cypriot society. Member of the European Parliament Fidias Panayiotou said that such campaigning raises questions about whether election campaigns by foreign states may be conducted on Cypriot territory. According to him, the photograph featuring the billboard was taken not in Israel but in Cyprus, which in itself raises serious questions about state sovereignty and legislation.

Amid the controversy, politicians have begun discussing the possibility of banning all political advertising by foreign states. However, the current legislation of the Republic of Cyprus does not yet contain provisions allowing the removal of posters that have already been installed, meaning the authorities have no formal grounds to take them down.

The situation has also drawn attention to the scale of Israel's presence on the island. According to Cypriot media estimates, between 15,000 and 20,000 Israeli citizens live permanently in Cyprus, while hundreds of thousands of Israeli tourists visit the island every year. It was this sizeable audience that became the target of the unusual foreign election campaign.

Gadi Eisenkot himself rejected the criticism, saying that the campaign is aimed exclusively at communicating with Israeli citizens abroad and is not intended to interfere in Cyprus's domestic politics. Nevertheless, the discussion has already gone far beyond a single billboard and could lead to changes in Cypriot legislation governing the placement of foreign political advertising.