Israeli elections chief orders Shin Bet probe of foreign influence on vote

Israeli Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the country’s Central Elections Committee, instructed Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) head David Zini on Wednesday to investigate suspected foreign funding and election bribery in Tuesday’s Knesset election, according to a letter shared with JNS.

“Serious suspicions have been brought before me of improper influence, through foreign funding by external actors acting against the Israeli interest, on the elections,” Sohlberg wrote.

“I cannot attest to the nature of the aforementioned suspicions,” he continued. Because the suspicions concern foreign actors, there is “a duty to investigate them properly,” he wrote.

Sohlberg instructed the domestic intelligence agency “to locate evidence to substantiate the aforementioned suspicions or to refute them.”

“Only in this way can we ensure public trust in the election process,” he wrote.

Citing the legal deadlines for filing election appeals, Sohlberg asked Zini to present any findings within a week.

The letter does not name the foreign actor, but Channel 12 News reported that the suspicions concern Qatar. According to the report, large sums allegedly flowed from Doha to illegally boost voter turnout in the Arab sector.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party on Wednesday had accused Arab parties of stealing the election through widespread fraud and called for a police and Shin Bet investigation.

The party alleged that thousands of envelopes containing cash and United Arab List (Ra’am Party) ballots were found at polling stations in Arab communities. It also alleged identity fraud and ballot-count discrepancies.

In a statement on Thursday morning, the party called what it dubbed the “Ra’amgate affair” an “earthquake.”

“They stole the election in Israel!” Likud said in a statement shared by Netanyahu on X.

“This is an attack on democracy, aimed at bringing about a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamization of Israel and the toppling of right-wing rule, in order to lead to the retreat and defeat of the Israel Defense Forces on all fronts, first and foremost Iran,” it continued.

The party warned that no Zionist faction should cooperate with Ra’am or the Joint List to replace the Knesset speaker or form a government, and demanded an immediate investigation.

The Central Elections Committee on Thursday rejected a request by Yesh Atid lawmaker Vladimir Beliak to convene its presidium over the ongoing investigation, according to a letter shared with JNS.

“Since this concerns an ongoing investigation and highly classified information, there is no reason to hold a presidium meeting on the matter,” the committee’s acting director-general, Dean Livneh, wrote to Beliak.

“To the best of our knowledge, the claims of a systematic violation of election integrity have no basis,” Livneh added.

Sohlberg ordered the Shin Bet inquiry after being shown “classified and sensitive information” that raised suspicions, Livneh wrote.

Yashar Party chairman Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s main challenger, said on Thursday that he was receiving updates regarding the suspicions.

“I am in contact with the relevant parties and am receiving updates regarding the suspicions of foreign involvement in the elections,” Eisenkot wrote on X.

“The State of Israel must zealously guard the integrity of the elections against any attempt at interference, spin and bias,” he tweeted. “Every complaint must be examined in depth.”

“At the same time, political actors must not be allowed to exploit the situation and influence the date of the swearing-in of the 26th Knesset,” Eisenkot added.

In related news, the Israel Police on Thursday morning detained four men for questioning on suspicion of involvement in election bribery, the force said.

The suspects were being questioned at the offices of Lahav 433’s National Fraud Investigations Unit, which is handling the case, it added.

Police previously arrested three suspects on the morning of the Knesset election on suspicion of election bribery, the statement noted.

In a separate statement, Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levi pledged to investigate all suspected offenses linked to the vote, warning that no one would be allowed to undermine the democratic process.

“Every complaint received and every suspicion of an offense relating to election integrity will be thoroughly examined and investigated without bias,” Levi said.

He added that police would work to uncover the truth and bring those responsible for violations to justice, “without exception.”

Netanyahu’s bloc of right-wing and religious parties held a lead over the opposition on Thursday afternoon, according to updated partial results from the Central Elections Committee.

Based on the partial results, Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to secure 53 seats, compared with 48 for the opposition and 19 for the Arab parties, though the figures remained subject to change, according to Israeli media.