Israel Orders Shin Bet Probe Into Suspected Foreign Funding to Boost Arab Election Turnout

Israel’s Central Elections Committee chairman has asked the Shin Bet security agency to investigate suspected foreign funding and election bribery linked to the October 27 Knesset election, according to Israeli media reports. Hebrew-language outlets say the suspicions concern efforts to raise Arab voter turnout. No evidence has been made public, and the allegations remain unproven.

Noam Sohlberg, a deputy chief justice of the Supreme Court who chairs the committee, wrote to Shin Bet Director David Zini in a letter dated Wednesday and made public on Thursday. Ynet reported that the letter followed a meeting between the two men on Wednesday.

Election Chief Cites Serious Suspicions

Sohlberg wrote that “serious suspicions” had been brought to him of improper influence on the elections through funding by foreign actors working against Israeli interests. He acknowledged that he could not verify them. “I cannot attest to the substance of these suspicions,” he wrote, but he said that because they involve foreign actors, there is an obligation to investigate them thoroughly.

He asked Zini to use the agency’s powers to find evidence that would either substantiate or refute the suspicions, and to present any findings within a week, citing statutory deadlines for filing election appeals.

The letter did not name the foreign actors or any political party, The Jerusalem Post reported. Channel 12 and Ynet reported that the information came to Sohlberg from the Shin Bet. An unnamed security official told Kan the investigation was opened in the past two weeks on “solid intelligence information,” according to The Times of Israel.

Qatar and Türkiye Named in Israeli Reports

Hebrew-language media, citing security and election-committee sources, reported that Qatar is suspected of sending large sums to Arab organizations to influence turnout and voting. Ynet put the suspected amount at tens of millions of shekels. Channel 12 reported that the channels used resembled those once used to send money for terrorism. Channel 13 said investigators were examining whether money passed through currency exchangers and local institutions.

The Jerusalem Post said Israeli media have identified Qatar and Türkiye as possible sources. Israel Hayom reported that Likud officials say they submitted evidence that actors including Qatar and Türkiye transferred funds, but it added that the initial information reached Sohlberg from the Shin Bet and did not necessarily rely on Likud’s material.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman denied the claims, calling them part of a “new disinformation campaign” and saying Qatar is “not a scapegoat for the political failures of certain Israeli politicians,” according to Ynet.

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on October 23, before the vote, that Ankara categorically rejects the use of Türkiye in Israeli election rhetoric, Anadolu Agency reported. A Turkish response to the Shin Bet inquiry itself had not been reported at the time of writing.

Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas welcomed the investigation and denied any involvement. “There will be nothing, because there is nothing,” he said, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Arab Turnout Reshapes the Knesset

Overall turnout was 77.7 percent, the highest since 1999, and turnout in Arab communities was about 80 percent, Israeli media reported. The two Arab-led parties, the Joint List and Ra’am, hold a combined 19 seats in the Central Elections Committee’s partial official results. Netanyahu’s bloc has 53 seats and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot has 48, short of the 61 needed for a majority. The final results had not been published when this article was written.

The Jerusalem Post noted that encouraging voter participation is not in itself evidence of election bribery, and that none of the allegations amounts to a finding that the results were unlawfully altered.

Police Cases and Likud Claims

The Shin Bet inquiry is separate from a police investigation into suspected vote-buying for Ra’am in southern Israel. Police arrested three men from the Negev on Election Day and four more on Thursday, including three school principals from Bedouin communities, on suspicion of election bribery. Three of the four were later released to house arrest. Police said searches turned up cash and Ra’am ballot slips.

A defense lawyer for one suspect said envelopes found at his client’s home bore the name of the Islamic Movement and each held 1,000 shekels meant as charitable donations to low-income families. The suspects deny wrongdoing. Ynet and The Jerusalem Post said no connection between that case and the suspected foreign funding has been established.

Likud said on Wednesday that Arab parties had “stolen” the election through bribery, intimidation and fraud, and the party is preparing to ask for results to be annulled at polling stations where it alleges bribery, Ynet reported. Its lawyer is not alleging forged ballots or falsified totals. Police rejected the broader claim, saying they had no investigative or intelligence support for the allegations put to them.

Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh called the accusations a “racist blood libel.” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for the arrest of Arab party leaders suspected of involvement with Qatari funds, provided there is a legal basis. Eisenkot and Naftali Bennett backed a thorough investigation but accused Netanyahu of exploiting the allegations. President Isaac Herzog said the suspicions must be fully investigated, while warning against “tarnishing an entire public that sought to exercise its right to vote.”

Findings Requested Within a Week

A Central Elections Committee source told The Jerusalem Post the investigation will not delay publication of the final results or stop President Herzog from selecting a party leader to begin coalition-building. Asked whether it could lead to another election, the source said it was “far too early for such a question.”

Election results can be challenged only through a separate court process. An appeal must be filed with the Jerusalem District Court within 14 days of publication of the results, according to The Jerusalem Post. No findings have been released, and the allegations of foreign funding and election bribery remain unproven.