Facebook Israel blocked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's post urging release of private details of people over 60 yet to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Netanyahu sought names and telephone numbers of individuals over 60 who had not been vaccinated in the blocked post, The Jerusalem Post reported.

"Under our privacy policy we do not allow content that shares or asks for people's medical information," Facebook told The Jerusalem Post.

Netanyahu also sought the same information through a chatbot operated by his official account.

A Facebook spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post it also "blocked the chatbot for seven days," for violating its privacy policies.

The social media campaign "aimed to encourage Israelis over the age of 60 to get vaccinated in order to save their lives after Prime Minister Netanyahu brought vaccines to every Israeli citizen," Netanyahu's Likud Party said in a statement to The Times of Israel. "We call on everyone to get vaccinated so that we can open up the economy and be the first in the world to emerge from the coronavirus."

Facebook previously suspended Netanyahu's chatbot until the polls closed in the September 2019 election for illegally sharing polling information.

The social media giant also previously temporarily suspended Netanyahu's Likud Party campaign from its Messenger App for violating hate speech policies ahead of the national elections in September 2019.

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