Far-right Israeli minister sprays herself with ‘fascism’ in condemned campaign ad

Ayelet Shaked poses as a model in a satirical swipe at her critics

Ayelet Shaked, Israel's justice minister, is shown in her campaign ad entitled "Fascism". Screengrab.

Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, a far-right politician who once compared Palestinians to snakes, has come under fire for a bizarre election advertisement in which she sprays a "fascism perfume" on herself.

Mrs Shaked, who formed a political party known as the New Right, spoofed a perfume commercial that has been widely derided on social media.

She poses as a model and whispers phrases related to her political positions. "Judicial reform, separation of powers and restraining the supreme court", she says in reference to her attempts to weaken Israeli courts in favour of the right.

At the end of the ad, she lifts a bottle sprays herself with perfume while saying: "To me, it smells like democracy."

Her new party is relatively minor, with little chance of making a big impact at the polls next month, which were called early by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr Netanyahu remains engulfed in a political crisis over his impending indictment in three corruption cases.

In what appears to be a satirical jab at her left-wing critics, Mrs Shaked seems to be promoting fascism to those outside of Israel who cannot understand the Hebrew ad. The only English word used in the advert is "fascism".

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who is a member of Mrs Shaked's new party, tweeted the video and called it "the perfume the leftists aren't going to like very much".

On Sunday, Mr Bennett condemned an Israeli court’s decision to ban a Jewish supremacist who has called for the murder of Arabs.

He described Michael Ben Ari’s disqualification from the April 9 vote as a “blatant and distorted intervention in the heart of Israeli democracy”. Mr Ben Ari's Jewish Power party reveres rabbi Meir Kahane, an infamous Jewish supremacist who was murdered in New York in 1990.