Shin Bet chief said to compare alleged election interference to Oct. 7, Yom Kippur War

Shin Bet chief David Zini has compared the alleged foreign interference in Israel’s election last week to the shock invasions that sparked the Gaza and Yom Kippur wars, Israeli television reported.

“I consider the case of the money that came here in the election to be like the failure of October 7. It’s our Yom Kippur. It’s the greatest strategic terror attack in the country’s history,” Zini was quoted as saying by Channel 12 at a recent Shin Bet conference, referring to both the devastating Hamas attack in 2023 and the surprise 1973 Arab invasion — the two deadliest security disasters in Israeli history.

Zini also reportedly sought to move officers from the Palestinian arena to a special team set up to probe the allegations, but the move did not take place because the team said it was unnecessary.

The report cited a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation as saying the Shin Bet had deployed special capabilities in the probe to an extent that “exceeds the realm of reason” given the available evidence.

Shin Bet sources who spoke to the TV network said Zini “believes with all his heart that very serious things happened” and was “moving resources inside the organization in a disproportionate manner.”

The sources also accused Zini of “throwing a tantrum” and putting together a “partial and almost misleading” picture based on isolated intelligence.

Channel 12 separately reported that the Shin Bet was examining three suspected channels through which hostile foreign actors may have transferred money into Israel to influence the election.

One route was identified before the October 27 vote, with investigators said to have “solid evidence” about the origin and destination of the money, though the amount involved was described as “almost negligible.”

Two other suspected channels emerged only after the election and are backed by more limited evidence, according to the report.

Also Thursday, Hebrew media outlets reported that Shin Bet and police officials agreed to establish a joint task force to investigate the allegations together with the State Attorney’s Office, according to Hebrew-language media.

Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg on Sunday announced the creation of a joint Shin Bet, police and State Attorney’s Office team, but the task force did not convene, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara accused the Shin Bet of withholding evidence.

The accusations of foreign interference followed allegations by Netanyahu’s Likud party that the October 27 election had been “stolen” by Arab parties, citing claims of bribery, intimidation, forgery and other irregularities following record Arab turnout that helped deprive Netanyahu’s bloc of a parliamentary majority.

The following day, Sohlberg instructed Zini to investigate “serious suspicions” that foreign entities acting against Israeli interests had funded efforts to influence the election.

Reports at the time said the allegations involve purported Qatari or Turkish funding for efforts to encourage Arabs to vote.

Since then, Sohlberg has decried the stigmatization of Arab voters and said the alleged interference would not have swayed the result of the election, adding that the undermining of the election results was the “real danger.”