Shin Bet tells election panel that suspected foreign funding may involve thousands of people; Ben Gvir urges arrest of Arab party leaders

The Shin Bet tells the Central Elections Committees that intelligence gathered so far points to widespread foreign funding and influence operations involving “thousands of people and possibly more,” but says it needs to conduct further investigative work before it can establish the scale of the alleged activity with a high degree of certainty.

The agency tells the panel that the money came from foreign countries and from actors with “concealed and even hostile interests,” and was intended to promote foreign influence.

It does not identify the countries or people involved.

However, sources in the law enforcement system and police tell Haaretz that they are not familiar with the claim that the alleged operation involved “huge sums” and “thousands of people.”

“If that’s the case, then how is it possible that [Shin Bet chief] Zini said on election day that the vote was safe?” one of the sources tells the newspaper. “If huge sums were flowing in, it should have been thwarted.”

The Shin Bet’s comments to the Central Elections Committee came after the panel’s presidium voted to approve the results this morning.

Earlier, the committee said it had found no irregularities indicating that the vote was compromised or the results altered.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, responds to the Shin Bet by calling on agency chief David Zini to arrest all Arab party leaders and question them “in Shin Bet basement cells,” even without the attorney general’s approval. He also demands an immediate freeze on certification of the election results and the formation of a government.

“The election was stolen here in the State of Israel,” Ben Gvir says, adding that “not a single stone” should be left unturned in the effort to uncover the “truth.”

The results are due to be submitted to President Isaac Herzog later today, after which he is expected to begin consultations with party leaders on whom they support for prime minister.

The Shin Bet statement follows reports that the agency is seeking to question four Arab politicians as part of a probe into alleged election interference, but hasn’t provided prosecutors with evidence regarding three of them.

Netanyahu’s Likud party, meanwhile, issued a statement accusing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of preventing the interrogations. She in turn responded with a scathing statement, effectively accusing Zini — a controversial Netanyahu appointee — of trying to undermine the rule of law.