Israeli Politicsupdated 45m ago2 min read
Justice Noam Sohlberg Orders Shin Bet Probe Into Qatar And Turkey Election Interference
“The investigation centers on suspected efforts to influence voters rather than allegations of ballot tampering”
“investigating suspected foreign interference in Israel's election”
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Noam Sohlberg ordered Shin Bet to probe suspected foreign influence in Israel's election. Mossad will assist Shin Bet in the probe, expanding cooperation beyond Qatar.
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Mossad joins probe
Israel’s Central Elections Committee chair Justice Noam Sohlberg ordered an investigation led by Shin Bet into suspected foreign interference in Israel’s election, after suspicions emerged about alleged financial resources from Qatar and Turkey to increase Arab voter participation. Haaretz said the Mossad will assist the Shin Bet security service in investigating suspected foreign interference in Israel’s election, including the possible involvement of countries other than Qatar.
Al Jazeera said Qatar rejected Israel’s allegations of Qatari election interference, calling them a disinformation campaign. The Times of Israel reported that Acting Central Elections Committee Director-General Dean Livne recorded that “It does not affect the final results that will be submitted to the President, nor does it concern any particular sector of the population.”
Qatar denies, Likud claims
Qatar’s spokesman Majed Al-Ansari rejected the accusations, describing them as “ridiculous and dangerous” and arguing that some Israeli leaders use Doha as responsible for internal problems.
Likud seized on the allegations to claim that “the elections were stolen,” urging opposition parties not to cooperate with Arab parties.
Yousef Jabareen told Channel 12 that he did not know of any interference by Qatar and said, “The only interference I know of is [US President Donald] Trump’s message supporting Netanyahu.”
Ahmad Tibi told Channel 12 that his party was ready to help bring down “this awful government… and switch it for a different government,” while stressing, “We won’t be part of the government. I don’t want a ministerial post.”
Coalition math and next steps
With counting complete, Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats and the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot won 48, leaving neither with the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset. Tibi said the Joint List of three Arab factions won 11 seats and that Ra’am won eight seats, while he argued that the 67 seats held collectively by Netanyahu’s opponents could form a parliamentary majority if Jewish-led opposition parties agreed to cooperate with Arab factions.
Jabareen said the Arab public saw the election as “a state of emergency, an almost existential election,” and he described the Joint List as “truly ready” to help build a parliamentary majority in the coming weeks. Haaretz reported that the Mossad probe expands beyond Qatar, while the Central Elections Committee director-general Dean Livne said the investigation was opened after classified intelligence was presented to Sohlberg and that “Further details cannot be disclosed, but reports published during the day are entirely unfounded.”