Shin Bet chief seeks investigation into all five Arab party leaders, i24NEWS learns
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara demanded evidence before approving investigations into the Arab party leaders, finding sufficient grounds for suspicion only in Ayman Odeh's case.
Shin Bet chief David Zini also requested an investigation into Joint List chairman Yosef Jabareen, i24NEWS learned on Sunday.
In doing so, Zini sought to advance investigations under caution of all the leaders of the Arab parties: Joint List chair Yosef Jabareen, Ta’al chair Ahmad Tibi, Balad chair Sami Abu Shehadeh, Ra’am chair Mansour Abbas, and outgoing Hadash chair Ayman Odeh.
In a conversation with the heads of law enforcement agencies, the attorney general agreed that there were reasonable grounds to suspect MK Ayman Odeh, warranting an investigation. However, regarding the other party leaders, she said that, as of now, there were no reasonable grounds for suspicion that would warrant investigating them.
Last week, i24NEWS reported that Knesset member Ayman Odeh is the senior politician under investigation over whether he received hundreds of thousands of shekels in cash from a foreign source.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara demanded evidence before approving investigations into the other Arab party leaders, but so far, none has been provided except in Odeh’s case.
The remarks come after the Central Elections Committee’s presidium approved the final election results, following claims by right-wing parties that payments were made to encourage voting in the Arab community, in light of the Arab parties’ electoral success: a combined 19 seats.
At the same time, the Shin Bet briefed committee members on intelligence allegedly indicating “widespread flows of large sums of money into Israel from foreign countries.”
According to the Shin Bet, the funds funneled into Israel from foreign countries originated with parties pursuing hidden and even hostile interests aimed at advancing foreign influence. The phenomenon involves thousands of people, possibly more.
The Shin Bet says the intelligence uncovered requires further investigation, and that additional intelligence-gathering and investigative measures are needed to establish the scale of the phenomenon with certainty.