‘Serious suspicions,’ election committee chief orders Shin Bet to investigate foreign funding, election bribery
Sohlberg said he “cannot attest to the nature” of the suspicions but that there is a duty to investigate them. He also says the information that led to the request did not come from a political entity
Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg instructed Shin Bet head David Zini to investigate suspected foreign funding and election bribery involving foreign entities. According to a letter dated October 28, Sohlberg asked for findings, if any, within the coming week.
The letter followed a briefing in which Zini presented Sohlberg with information described as “exceptionally grave.” The allegations concern improper influence over the elections through foreign funding from outside actors working against Israeli interests.
Sohlberg noted that the information that led to the suspicions does not involve tips received from a political entity, nor is it a response to an inquiry from the Likud party, which alleges fraud and the theft of the election.
“The purity of elections is the heart of democracy,” Sohlberg wrote. “Serious suspicions have been brought before me of improper influence on the elections through foreign funding from foreign entities operating against Israeli interests.”
The committee chairman also stated that he “cannot attest to the nature of the above suspicions,” but said there was a duty to investigate them properly.
Sohlberg told Zini to “do everything in your power to investigate the matter,” and to use the Shin Bet’s powers to locate evidence substantiating the suspicions. “Only in this way can we ensure public trust in the electoral process, and the purity of the democratic process.”
Separately, Ynet reports that Sohlberg sent the letter to Zini following a meeting between them earlier in the week, and claim it may be an attempt by Qatar to influence the elections in Israel. The CEC stated that the information regarding this is “solid.”
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Meanwhile, several additional suspects have been arrested as part of an investigation into alleged bribery in exchange for votes for the Ra’am party.
Following the election, Likud accused Arab parties of stealing the election through bribery, threats, violence, forgery, and prohibited voter mobilization software, and said it was submitting hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence to police, the Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee. Police said they have no investigative or intelligence-based evidence supporting the allegations.
According to police data, 48 complaints of fraud and impersonation had been received nationwide as of last night, compared with nearly 80 during the previous election, a decrease of about 40%.
Political reactions
Several Israeli political leaders from both sides of the political spectrum weighed in on the investigation order.
Current opposition frontrunner and Yashar Party chief Gadi Eisenkot says he is in contact with the relevant authorities and is receiving updates regarding suspicions of foreign interference in the elections. "The State of Israel must rigorously safeguard the integrity of the elections against any attempts at interference, political spin, or bias," Eisenkot said in a statement.
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Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman called Sohlberg’s letter “a dramatic and unprecedented development.” He said: “I call upon the law enforcement authorities to act swiftly to uncover the truth as soon as possible.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the suspicion of election tampering via foreign Islamist funding “serves as a litmus test for the State of Israel.” He said the leaders of the Arab parties “must be questioned by the Shin Bet,” adding the word “today.” Smotrich also said: “The State of Israel will not be sold out to radical Islam through terror-linked funds.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir went further, saying the Shin Bet “must order the arrest” of the leaders of the Arab parties suspected of involvement with Qatari funds, “as early as this morning.” He called for the arrest of “all other suspects in the affair,” including figures within the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots, “provided there are legal grounds for their arrest.”
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Such investigations were a priority of the Harpoon unit, created by former Mossad chief Meir Dagan in 1996 and closed in 2017. Since then, responsibility has been shared among several bodies, including the Defense Ministry, the Shin Bet, the Mossad and Lahav 433, which is why the Shin Bet chief is involved.