Israel’s Shin Bet chief seeks to question Arab party leaders over suspected foreign interference in election: report

In a separate report, Israel’s. Yedioth Ahronothdaily said Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara rejected Zini’s request to treat the entire inquiry as a security case at a meeting Sunday with Noam Sohlberg, the judge who chairs Israel’s Central Elections Committee.

The classification would have given the Shin Bet broader powers to deny suspects access to lawyers, tap their phones and collect communications data, the newspaper reported. Baharav-Miara called the request unlawful, while Sohlberg suggested recognising that the case could have a security dimension.

Read:Arab parties emerge as Israel's kingmakers. In a statement late Tuesday, Baharav-Miara said investigators needed evidence to justify questioning citizens or elected officials as suspects. She said the Shin Bet or any other agency could submit material that warranted questioning.

She also said the Shin Bet had gone two days without turning over the material it had gathered to a special investigative team, delaying the inquiry. The team was formed on Sohlberg’s recommendation and includes police investigators working under the supervision of state prosecutors.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party accused Baharav-Miara of obstructing the inquiry by blocking the Shin Bet from using powers available in security cases. It called on Sohlberg to explain the matter to the public.

The Joint List issued a statement saying that Zini had “lost his senses” and vowing to oppose any attempt by him or Netanyahu to portray the votes of hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens as a security threat or cast their elected representatives as suspects.

“Arab voters do not need permission from Netanyahu or the Shin Bet chief to shape their political future,” the alliance said. Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the opposition Yashar party, warned against using security agencies for political ends.

He accused Netanyahu and Likud of trying to undermine public confidence in the election results after their blocfell short of a parliamentary majority. Read More:US will stop $4b in aid to Israel: Trump. Likud has accused Qatar of funding efforts to boost Arab turnout and influence the outcome.

The party has presented no public evidence of Qatari interference or widespread fraud. Qatar rejected the accusations last Thursday, describing them as a disinformation campaign aimed at drawing it into Israel’s domestic political disputes. Sohlberg said late Tuesday that Israeli law required the final results to be published Wednesday and that no one had the authority to withhold them.

The results are due to be presented to President Isaac Herzog, who is expected to begin consultations with party representatives Wednesday on forming a government,. The vote count gave Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset and Eisenkot’s opposition bloc 48.

The Joint List won 11 seats and Ra’am secured eight, giving the two Arab lists a combined 19 seats. Neither bloc reached the 61 seats needed for a majority.