From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 26, 2026
Yisrael Beytenu alleges possible election interference via WhatsApp
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party says it has urgently appealed to the Central Elections Committee over suspected foreign interference in tomorrow’s election, after thousands of Russian-language WhatsApp messages were allegedly distributed urging voters not to support Liberman.
“In recent hours, reports have emerged of the mass distribution of thousands of Russian-language WhatsApp messages from phone numbers with Indian and Swedish country codes, urging recipients not to vote for Avigdor Liberman based on the false claim that he will not cross the electoral threshold,” the party says.
Some of the messages were sent from fake accounts posing as those of former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad party. B’Yachad has joined Liberman’s party in appealing to CEC Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg over the matter, Yisrael Beytenu says.
In its appeal, the party requests an injunction to halt the distribution of the messages and calls for the Shin Bet and law enforcement authorities to investigate their source and determine whether foreign actors are involved.
“The suspected attempt to influence the elections through impersonation and the dissemination of false information requires an immediate investigation and decisive action to protect the integrity of the elections,” the party says.
The allegations come after Ofer Winter’s right-wing People of Israel party reported an apparent cyberattack earlier today, claiming that several candidates and senior campaign officials had been blocked from using WhatsApp following a coordinated attack involving foreign phone numbers.
The Times of Israel Community.