Shin Bet, police convene on foreign election interference probe

Representatives of the Shin Bet, Israel Police and the State Attorney's Office convened Thursday for the first time to discuss serious suspicions of foreign interference in the last Knesset election. The meeting focused on suspicions that large sums of money were transferred to boost Arab voter turnout through channels previously used for terror financing, including money changers and local institutions.

Channel 13 reported that the parties agreed on a joint working framework. Shin Bet chief David Zini committed to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to act according to her directives, and clarified that he would transfer the required investigative materials promptly to advance the inquiry.

The meeting comes against a backdrop of public tension surrounding the investigation. Recent days have seen reports of a dispute between the Shin Bet chief and the attorney general over the evidentiary basis required to open investigations against senior Arab sector politicians. Zini has demanded opening investigations under caution against four politicians: Ayman Odeh of Balad, Ahmad Tibi of Ta'al, Mansour Abbas of Ra'am, and Sami Abu Shehadeh of Balad.

Baharav-Miara clarified in an unusual statement this week that in a state governed by law, citizens or public officials cannot be investigated without evidence justifying it. "Anyone who needs to be investigated will be investigated, but people will not be investigated without an evidentiary basis," her office stated. She also accused the Shin Bet of delaying handling of the suspicions, claiming the organization is not transferring investigative materials.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Shin Bet recently presented an intelligence update to the Central Elections Committee on the suspicions. According to the briefing, intelligence points to widespread phenomena of large sums of money flowing into Israel from foreign countries, originating from parties with hidden and even hostile interests. Information gathered so far indicates that operations for foreign financing and influence in massive amounts are a widespread phenomenon on a scale involving thousands of people, possibly more.

The Shin Bet's update noted that the funds were intended to advance foreign influence, and in the service's view require deeper intelligence and investigative work. The service clarified that at this stage it must complete additional collection and investigative operations to obtain intelligence that will allow connecting the dots and pointing with high certainty and reliability to the full scope of the phenomenon.

The Central Elections Committee issued a clarification this week following various reports. According to the statement, findings from the oversight operation that concluded this week remain in force, while the Shin Bet investigation that opened under the direction of committee chairman Justice Noam Solberg continues in parallel. The committee noted it is monitoring the investigation's progress and acting to remove obstacles as required.

Vote counting (Photo: Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Thursday's meeting was intended to bridge the disputes and advance the investigation in an orderly and professional manner. The agreed framework includes the Shin Bet chief's commitment to act according to the attorney general's directives and to transfer investigative materials as soon as possible. The parties agreed on the importance of advancing the investigation while maintaining rule-of-law principles and the need for an appropriate evidentiary foundation.