Shin Bet pressured Joint List activists to incriminate Ra'am during election probe - report

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) attempted to recruit activists of the Arab Joint List party to act against Ra'am during its investigation into suspected election tampering in the Arab sector, N12 News reported on Saturday. 

As part of the ongoing investigation, the Shin Bet called several Joint List activists in for questioning. However, upon arriving, the activists were reportedly asked by those questioning them to provide incriminating information about Ra'am.

One activist told N12 that the Shin Bet's line of questioning was an attempt to leverage their religious identity to prompt them into giving over information against Ra'am.

According to the activist, after being asked to "give me [the Shin Bet interrogator] something on Ra'am," they responded that they had expected to be asked about the Joint List.

The interrogator then reportedly said, "You’re a Christian, they’re Islamists; you need to cooperate with us against them, give us something."

The activist responded with confusion, reported N12 asking, "How am I connected to Ra'am? What am I suspected of?"

In response to N12's request for clarification, the Shin Bet told the outlet that such questions are a "lawful interrogation method," conducted as part of the "examination of suspected subversive activity and foreign influence during the elections."

Shin Bet becoming 'political tool for gov't'

"Any attempt to cast aspersions on Ra'am’s conduct during the elections by recruiting political activists against us is doomed to abject failure, much like the incident involving the arrest of three Ra'am activists on election day," Ra'am said in its own statement.

It added that "all Ra'am entities and activists will cooperate fully with law enforcement authorities, in accordance with the directives of the chairman of the Central Elections Committee and the attorney-general."

In its own response to the N12 report, the Joint List slammed the Shin Bet for becoming "a political tool for the government," noting that "such intimidation tactics will neither deter nor silence us."

"For years, there have been attempts to drive a wedge between us, sow suspicion, and undermine our social partnership," it said. "We have political and ideological disagreements with Ra'am, but these pale in comparison to the chasm that separates us from the Kahanist and fascist forces that threaten the future of us all."

"We stand united and determined in the face of attempts to sow division and fear. We will serve as a safety net for our community, and we will not let anyone divert us from our primary mission: replacing this government."