Shin Bet, police said to form task force to probe alleged election interference, amid Shin Bet-AG spat

Shin Bet and police officials met today to discuss the probe into alleged foreign intervention in last week’s Knesset election, and decided to form a joint task force that will also work with the State Attorney’s Office, according to Hebrew media.

Central Elections Chief Noam Sohlberg had on Sunday announced the formation of a police, Shin Bet and State Attorney’s Office task force to probe the allegations, but the task force did not convene, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara accused the Shin Bet of withholding evidence.

Shin Bet chief David Zini is reportedly seeking to investigate three senior Arab politicians without presenting evidence to back up the demand. A fourth Arab politician, outgoing Hadash lawmaker Ayman Odeh, is alleged to have received hundreds of thousands of shekels in cash from a foreign source.

The allegations were first confirmed in a letter from Sohlberg to Zini last Thursday ordering an investigation into suspicions of interference by hostile foreign entities. Reports at the time said the allegations involve purported Qatari or Turkish funding for efforts to encourage Arabs to vote.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lost his parliamentary majority on the heels of unprecedented Arab voter turnout, has seized on the allegations to claim Arab parties “stole” the election.

Sohlberg has decried the stigmatization of Arab voters and said the alleged interference would not have swayed the result of the election.