Sohlberg Asks Shin Bet to Investigate Suspected Foreign Election Funding

Justice Noam Sohlberg, chairman of Israel’s Central Elections Committee, has asked Shin Bet chief David Zini to investigate suspected foreign election funding and bribery. In a letter reported on October 29, Sohlberg said serious suspicions of improper financial influence by outside entities had been brought before him, involving actors working against Israeli interests. Sohlberg requested a rapid examination because of the legal timetable for challenges to election results. He wrote: “I ask you to do everything possible to bring findings before me, if any exist, within the coming week.” His request sought findings from the security service; it did not announce that foreign interference had been established or that the outcome of the election had been changed. The letter’s wording left open whether the inquiry would produce findings. Separately on Thursday morning, Israel Police rejected Likud’s broader allegation that Arab parties had stolen the election. Police said there was no investigative or intelligence evidence supporting that claim and described relatively few incidents affecting electoral integrity compared with previous elections. Likud had made its allegation on Wednesday. That police response addressed the sweeping fraud allegation, while Sohlberg’s letter sought an examination of specific suspicions of outside financial influence.