Daijiworld Media Network - Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Oct 30: Israel's domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, has launched an investigation into suspicions that foreign entities, potentially including Qatar and Turkey, funnelled money into the country to influence voting patterns in Arab communities during the recent parliamentary elections.
According to a report in The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, the investigation was initiated following a directive from Central Elections Committee chairman and Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who instructed Shin Bet chief David Zini to examine allegations of foreign funding and possible election-related bribery.
Sohlberg reportedly described the allegations as serious and called for a thorough investigation to establish whether foreign entities had attempted to improperly influence the electoral process. He asked the Shin Bet to gather evidence either substantiating or disproving the suspicions and submit its findings within a week.
The allegations have triggered a political controversy, particularly after Arab voters recorded a significant turnout in Tuesday's elections. While the overall voter turnout stood at 77.7 per cent, participation among Arab Israelis was reported at approximately 60 per cent of the Arab population.
The Joint List, an alliance of Arab political parties, accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to steal the election and said it would resist any efforts to undermine the results.
Qatar has strongly rejected allegations of interference. Majed Al Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, categorically denied that Doha had interfered in Israel's elections or financed any activities intended to influence the outcome.
In a statement posted on X, Al Ansari accused certain Israeli politicians and their media contacts of launching another disinformation campaign to drag Qatar into Israel's domestic political disputes following the elections.
He pointed out that Qatar had previously been accused of financially influencing Netanyahu and Israel's political left and was now being accused of influencing the Arab vote.
"If these claims were to be believed, Qatar would apparently own all of Israel," Al Ansari remarked, dismissing the allegations.
Turkey has also rejected accusations of interfering in the Israeli elections, describing the claims as baseless.
Meanwhile, the controversy has intensified following remarks by Yitzhak Kroizer, a lawmaker from Israel's far-right Otzma Yehudit party, who urged his supporters to arm themselves amid fears of possible unrest if votes cast for Arab parties were invalidated.
According to Israeli media outlet Haaretz, Kroizer warned that Arab Israelis could resort to violence if the Central Elections Committee invalidated votes for the United Arab List (Ra'am), potentially reducing its representation in the Knesset.
In a video message, he referred to the possibility of another Operation Guardian of the Walls, the Israeli military operation in Gaza in May 2021, during which violent clashes also erupted between Arab and Jewish communities within Israel.
Kroizer urged supporters to arm themselves while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir remained in office and the government's firearms licensing reforms continued.
The Shin Bet investigation has also become a major political issue, with Netanyahu's main electoral rival, Gadi Eisenkot, confirming that he was receiving updates about suspected foreign involvement.
Eisenkot welcomed Netanyahu's condemnation of alleged Qatari interference, describing foreign involvement in Israel's internal affairs as an unacceptable and extremely serious matter, particularly when it involved a country accused of funding and supporting Hamas.
However, the Shin Bet subsequently clarified that its investigation was based on intelligence independently collected by the agency and not information supplied by any political party. It also stressed that the inquiry was limited in scope and should not be used to cast suspicion on Arab citizens who had voted lawfully.
The agency said the investigation remained incomplete and that allegations concerning its nature should not be treated as established findings. Only individuals found to have violated the law would be dealt with.
Separately, Israeli police rejected claims of widespread election fraud, stating that polling day had witnessed relatively few incidents affecting electoral integrity and that there was no investigative or intelligence-based evidence supporting allegations of systematic irregularities.
The allegations have nevertheless raised questions about the formation of Israel's next government. The two principal political forces in the contest are Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and Eisenkot's Yashar party.
According to The Jerusalem Post, a source in the Central Elections Committee said the Shin Bet investigation was unlikely to delay the publication of the final election results or prevent President Isaac Herzog from inviting a party leader to begin the coalition-building process.
The final election results are expected to be announced on November 4. The investigation and any possible legal challenges will proceed separately from the official declaration of the results.
The developments have placed additional pressure on Israel's political leadership, with opposition parties insisting that allegations of foreign interference must be investigated thoroughly without being used to discredit Arab voters or undermine the democratic outcome.