Netanyahu: Terror Groups Aim to Disrupt Israeli Election

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he brought Israel's security chiefs together because of "dramatic and serious security warnings indicating that terrorist organizations intend to disrupt the elections or influence their course." Israelis vote in the Knesset election on Tuesday.

Netanyahu described the session as a routine step ahead of an election. Police Commissioner Danny Levy did not attend Thursday's gathering with the security chiefs. On Sunday, Netanyahu summoned Levy to a separate meeting on police preparations for Election Day. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was set to take part. No representatives of the Central Elections Committee were scheduled to attend.

Likud stated that the Sunday meeting was meant to complete the discussion already held with all heads of the security establishment over security threats, and that it did not concern electoral integrity. The party added that Justice Sohlberg was welcome to send a representative of the Central Elections Committee. Netanyahu's office told Ynet that such discussions take place before every election.

The Central Elections Committee found no obstacle, on the face of it, to holding the meeting, Arutz Sheva reported. The committee stressed, however, that the commissioner may decide what information to present and that the prime minister is not permitted to interfere in police plans for the election.

Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party asked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and committee chairman Noam Sohlberg to cancel the meeting, The Jerusalem Post reported. The party argued that Netanyahu is himself a candidate, is not responsible for overseeing election integrity, and has no authority over the police commissioner on that issue.

"The unusual meeting raises concern about an attempt to create a false impression that election integrity has been compromised, without any basis, in order to undermine public confidence in the results in advance," Yashar said.

The party also accused Netanyahu of potentially seeking to pressure public servants to advance his political interests.

Ben-Gvir's office rejected the allegations. It called a briefing on police preparations "a routine and accepted step, as previous ministers have also done," and cited the Meron Commission on the minister's duty to examine preparations and identify shortcomings. The statement then turned on opposition leaders: "Gadi, Naftali, and Yair Golan - you, who blocked the Ayalon Highway, will not lecture us about preserving democracy."

Levy had reportedly declined to attend a similar discussion called by Ben-Gvir. About a week and a half earlier, he held an election-preparations meeting with Dean Livne, the committee's acting director-general. That meeting covered public order and safe voting. Levy said he had explicitly instructed officers not to express political views while serving, warning that violators would not be able to remain in the force, and that police were preparing for different scenarios to protect the integrity of the vote.

Eisenkot himself escalated on Sunday morning. As JFeed reported, Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of working to sabotage the elections by summoning the police commissioner on the eve of the vote, and called it "a dangerous intervention that must not be allowed."