Bismuth warns Israel’s enemies may attack on Election Day as Knesset defense committee meets

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth (Likud) held a "special security discussion" on Monday amid what he described as threats against Israel ahead of the October 27 elections.

"Israel's enemies will attempt to attack on Election Day," Bismuth wrote in an X/Twitter post. "We are prepared."

"A map of security threats and alerts across all arenas was presented to us, as well as attempts at foreign interference," he wrote. "The security apparatus is at peak readiness to thwart any attempt to harm public safety and the conduct of the elections."

His warning comes following a controversial video released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 29, where the Likud chairman warned that Israel's enemies may try to attack it ahead of Election Day.

"There are signs that leading up to the elections, our enemies will try to attack us,” Netanyahu said while standing in front of an IAF F-15 at Israel's Tel Nof airbase. "I am sending you [our enemies] a message: Don’t mess with us. Our long arm will reach you anywhere, and at any time."

As with Bismuth's statement, Netanyahu did not specify at the time which enemies he meant.

Opposition's Lapid: IDF bases not the place for campaign videos

Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded to Netanyahu's video at the time, saying that "Israel’s security and IDF bases are not mere backdrops for election campaign videos."

Several Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post at the time that there was no concrete threat to Israel, cautioning that the situation could change at any moment.