Police said to tell prosecutors there’s no evidence to justify interrogation of Arab party leaders over alleged foreign election interference

Police reportedly said in an assessment filed to the State Attorney’s Office yesterday that “there is no suspicion of security offenses” by Arab party heads or any need to interrogate them over the allegations of foreign interference in Israel’s October 27 election.

The assessment also says there are insufficient grounds to suspect former Joint List chair Ayman Odeh, who allegedly received hundreds of thousands of shekels from abroad, of anything beyond money laundering or campaign finance violation, according to Hebrew media.

The State Attorney’s Office is now expected to make its own assessment, to be submitted to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who will have the final word on whether to pursue the case.

Shin Bet chief David Zini has reportedly sought to interrogate Odeh over the foreign cash, as well as senior Arab politicians Sami Abou Shahadeh, Mansour Abbas and Ahmad Tibi, without any evidence of wrongdoing against the latter three.

Unnamed Shin Bet and law enforcement officials have been widely quoted in Hebrew media lambasting Zini’s conduct and accusing him of groundlessly manufacturing allegations of foreign interference.

According to the allegations, Qatar is said to have funneled a large sum of money to Israel to encourage Arab citizens to vote.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has said the alleged sum was about NIS 100 million in cash and gasoline coupons, but recent media reports have indicated the Shin Bet has failed to provide evidence for anywhere near that sum. Haaretz has also reported that major gas companies have seen no unusual spike in use of coupons.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has seized on the allegations to suggest Arab parties “stole” the October 27 Knesset election, which saw him lose his parliamentary majority amid massive Arab voter turnout.

Citing the purportedly stolen election, Ben Gvir’s own Otzma Yehudit party has voted against certifying the results, and already submitted draft legislation to disperse the Knesset that was sworn in yesterday.