Both election interference probes involving Arab parties reportedly falling apart

After significant alarm from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, two election interference investigations involving the pair of Arab-led parties are falling apart, Channel 12 reports.

The first case in which three Bedouin activists were arrested for allegedly trying to bribe voters to back the Ra’am party is expected to be closed unless new evidence is uncovered, Channel 12 says.

The second case involving an alleged foreign funding effort to back the Joint List is also turning out to be very different from what was initially described and has led to a major crisis of confidence in Netanyahu loyalist and Shin Bet chief David Zini, the network says.

A senior police official tells Channel 12, “We have lost confidence in the head of the Shin Bet.”

Accordingly, Deputy Commissioner Boaz Blatt — who heads the police’s investigations and intelligence division — has barred subordinates from transferring any information regarding the case to the Shin Bet without his approval.

It is pretty much only Zini who believes the investigation is a matter of national security, as opposed to police and law enforcement who believe it is a criminal matter, at most.

“There’s a huge gap between Zini’s claims and the reality,” a police official says.

Moreover, while initial media reports alleged the involvement of Qatar, none of the intelligence material provided by the Shin Bet to the police makes any mention of the Gulf state.

Instead, the money involved is believed to come from the West Bank, and it is not yet clear who is behind those funds, Channel 12 says.

The network cites an official inside the Shin Bet who blasts Zini’s conduct, saying it is now even clearer that he is trying “to serve his master,” Netanyahu, who has claimed that the elections were stolen and opposed the certification of the results in light of the two investigations.