Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s election campaign has drawn attention across the region after a new campaign video closely resembled an advertisement used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s 2015 parliamentary elections.
Vučić published the video on his X account on October 10. In the advertisement, the former Serbian president arrives at the home of a couple preparing to leave for a trip and offers to keep an elderly man company.
“You asked for someone you can rely on,” Vučić says in the video.
A nearly identical scenario appeared in a campaign advertisement produced by Netanyahu’s Likud party in January 2015. In that video, a young couple preparing to go out for the evening opens the door to find Netanyahu instead of the babysitter they had requested.
“Looking for a babysitter? You got a Bibi-sitter,” Netanyahu said, playing on his nickname, “Bibi.”
According to The Times of Israel, Netanyahu’s advertisement became one of the most widely viewed campaign videos during that election season. It also won a Pollie Award from the American Association of Political Consultants for the best political campaign of 2015.
The similarities between the two advertisements have prompted comparisons between the campaigns of the Serbian and Israeli leaders.
Vučić and Netanyahu have also been linked through Israeli political consultants who have worked on campaigns for both politicians in recent years.
The development comes amid preparations for Serbia’s upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 25. Vučić submitted his resignation as president in late September, approximately seven months before the end of his term.
