Police said to see little basis for Shin Bet election probe, doubt Aymen Odeh will be questioned

Police officials believe there is little basis for the Shin Bet’s probe into alleged foreign interference in the election and doubt that former Hadash leader Ayman Odeh will be questioned, Channel 12 reports.

According to the network, a preliminary police assessment found no security offenses and few, if any, criminal offenses. Any potential criminal violations were described as minor; possible party-financing violations would fall under the state comptroller’s purview, rather than a criminal or security investigation.

An assessment is being prepared for Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who will decide whether to continue the investigation, narrow its scope, or close it. Police officials reportedly expect that, absent new evidence, the accused Arab politicians and people in their circles will not be summoned for questioning. They say the case could collapse or be substantially narrowed.

Shin Bet chief David Zini had asked Baharav-Miara to authorize security questioning of four Arab lawmakers. Odeh was the only lawmaker for whom intelligence material was presented in support of the request. But a senior official tells the network that even in Odeh’s case, there is “serious doubt” he will be questioned, describing the file as thin and saying it might, at most, develop into a minor criminal case.

The reports come after Abed Abou Shahadeh, a Balad activist and journalist who was the first person questioned in the affair, was released.

In a statement on Sunday, Baharav-Miara said she had not seen anything in the investigations of possible election fraud that would “even remotely” influence the outcome of last month’s vote.