Mossad Joins Shin Bet Probe Into Qatari Election Funding

Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad, has joined the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) investigation into suspected foreign meddling in Israel's elections. The election officials running the vote insist that the results already sent to Israel's president will stand. The Mossad will work on the parts of the case within its remit. Chief among them is whether Qatar funded the Joint List's party apparatus.

The Mossad was brought in after an initial Shin Bet inquiry. That inquiry examined suspicions that foreign money had been funneled into Israel to influence how Arab communities voted. It followed a directive from Justice Noam Sohlberg, chairman of the Central Elections Committee, to look into suspected foreign funding and election bribery.

Dean Livne, the committee's acting director-general, said the investigation would not alter the election results submitted to the president. He added that it does not target any specific community.

Livne spoke overnight in a recorded statement approved by Sohlberg. He dismissed the reports of alleged efforts to influence the 26th Knesset election as baseless.

"Further details cannot be disclosed, but reports published during the day are entirely unfounded," Livne said.

He added that the Shin Bet opened the investigation after the agency's head presented classified intelligence to Sohlberg. With Sohlberg's approval, the main points were then passed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, opposition leader Yair Lapid and Gadi Eisenkot. Livne noted that the material's high security classification meant only a handful of people had seen it.

The committee said the findings will go to Sohlberg once the investigation is complete, and he will weigh how far they reach and what they mean. It promised to brief the public as quickly as security constraints permit.

Gadi Eisenkot (Photo: Yesh! spokesperson)

On Thursday, Eisenkot met Shin Bet chief David Zini and Sohlberg. Afterward he vowed not to permit any delay in swearing in the new Knesset. "It is too early to understand what happened and whether anything happened at all," Eisenkot said. "We must allow the professionals to complete their investigation without political interference."

That same day, MK Simcha Rothman, a member of the Central Elections Committee, warned on Galei Israel radio that new elections might become unavoidable if fraud or foreign influence proved widespread. "When you're talking to me about three hundred thousand votes that were moved to vote under foreign influence, that's not something you can fix by disqualifying polling stations or repeat votes," Rothman said.

Mossad Joins Qatar Election Funding Probe

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