Mossad said to join probe of alleged foreign influence at Shin Bet’s request

The Mossad has joined the Shin Bet security service’s investigation into alleged foreign influence in this week’s national election, Hebrew media outlets reported Friday.

According to the unsourced reports, the spy agency was working with the Shin Bet in probing alleged foreign interference, which is suspected to come not just from Qatar, but also from other countries, with the Ynet news site naming Turkey among them.

The reports added that Shin Bet requested the Mossad assist with the probe.

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The Central Elections Committee has repeatedly said that the scope of the investigation was limited in nature and that the results of Tuesday’s election — which yielded fresh parliamentary gridlock — were not in question.

Doha and Ankara have both rejected any allegations that they were involved in attempting to influence the vote.

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The allegations center on a purported effort to pay Arab voters to boost their turnout at polling stations on Tuesday, when three Ra’am activists were arrested on suspicion of bribery.

But according to the Haaretz newspaper, the three were due to be released from house arrest as no evidence has been found of an attempt to bribe voters, with the case expected to be closed without charges. According to Channel 12 news, police searched the trio’s homes and arrested them without a court warrant.

A source told the daily that the entire case originated in the Prime Minister’s Office, with a tip from Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff Ido Norden sparking the arrest raid. A separate report by i24 News said Norden relayed his suspicions directly to Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy’s office, while noting law enforcement did not reveal the source of the complaint when announcing the arrests, which Netanyahu subsequently cited to claim the election was “stolen.”

Opposition figures have accused Netanyahu of attempting to undermine the election results after his bloc lost its parliamentary majority following the vote.

Haaretz said that despite finding and seizing envelopes of cash, there was no connection found between the arrested officials and any bribery scheme, while Channel 12 quoted sources involved in the investigation saying no incriminating evidence was uncovered on their cellphones.

Police have stated that the arrest of the three was unconnected to the larger investigation into alleged foreign interference. The force has also pushed against the broader fraud allegations by Netanyahu and his Likud party, with a police source telling Hebrew media that election day had passed with “very few irregular incidents” concerning election integrity and that there was “no investigative or intelligence-based substantiation” for claims that the election had been stolen.

The Shin Bet has also stressed the investigation was “focused and limited in scope, and does not cast aspersions on or accuse an entire sector that went out to vote democratically and legally.”

With all votes counted, Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats versus 48 for the opposition bloc, both short of a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Ra’am and the fellow Arab-led Joint List together picked up a record 19 seats.

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