Shin Bet chief overruled on Qatar election bribery probe

An unusual dispute has broken out at the top of the Shin Bet over how to conduct the investigation into suspected foreign interference in Knesset elections. Shin Bet chief David Zini wants to expand the probe and deploy additional tools available to the agency, but three senior officials have opposed the move, Kan News reported Sunday evening.

During a discussion on the matter, the head of the division handling the investigation and two other senior officials took a different position from Zini's. The three argued that given the relatively limited scope of the suspicions, deploying additional measures is not justified at this stage, especially when it remains unclear whether those tools could establish an evidentiary basis proving criminal offences were committed.

A central part of the doubts concerns the alleged link between Qatar and money received by a Joint List MK, which according to the suspicion was used by the party during the election campaign. At this stage, open questions remain both about the source of the money and the use made of it, particularly whether it was in fact used for illegal election-related activity.

The reservations do not end with a professional disagreement inside the service. A law-enforcement source involved in the investigation told Kan News that there are legal difficulties in approving some of the requested steps, as long as no additional evidence has been presented beyond the information already in investigators' hands. A senior Shin Bet official who participated in discussions with law-enforcement bodies also noted that the tools Zini wants to use require special legal approval, whose chances of being granted are unclear given the scope of the suspicions.

The Shin Bet chose not to address the details of the dispute, responding: "The Shin Bet and its head conduct professional discourse within the organisation, which allows a wide range of different and varied opinions to be presented in discussions. At the same time, we clarify that we do not refer to what is said in closed discussions."

The report comes against the backdrop of a special statement delivered earlier Sunday evening by Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Solberg, alongside Shin Bet chief Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Solberg sought to clarify that the suspicions under investigation do not cast doubt on the integrity of the elections and are not expected to affect their results.

"I am addressing you this evening out of the responsibility entrusted to me to safeguard the purity of elections, and out of the commitment to present the facts to you as they are," Solberg said. According to him, "The elections were conducted properly, suspicions have emerged that are being examined, but they will not undermine the election results." The justice added that the public's decision at the ballot box will be honoured and that the results reflect the will of the voters.

As reported, the chairman of the Central Elections Committee instructed the Shin Bet chief to examine the suspicions of foreign financing of the elections and to submit findings on the matter within about a week. As part of the investigation into suspected election bribery in the Arab sector, information is being examined according to which millions of shekels originating in enemy states were allegedly transferred to Israel, with the aim of financing vote-buying and influencing the results of the elections to the 26th Knesset.