The investigation comes after Arab parties secured a record 19 seats in the 120-member Israel Knesset, potentially giving them a pivotal role in coalition negotiations. Shin Bet has been asked to establish whether foreign funding was used to influence the electoral outcome.
BY PC Bureau
October 30: Israel Central Elections Committee chair, Justice Noam Sohlberg, has asked Shin Bet chief David Zini to investigate what he described as “serious suspicions” of foreign interference in the country’s parliamentary election, amid reports that Qatar allegedly channelled funds to influence Arab voter turnout.
In a letter dated Wednesday, Sohlberg said he had received information about possible improper influence on the Israel election through funding from foreign entities acting against Israel’s interests. While acknowledging that he could not independently verify the allegations, he said the suspected involvement of foreign actors warranted a thorough investigation.
Hebrew media outlets reported that the Shin Bet had itself alerted Sohlberg to the alleged activity. According to Kan, the Israel security agency opened an investigation within the previous two weeks after receiving what an unnamed security official described as credible intelligence. The official said investigators believed there was a potentially serious issue that required examination.
Sohlberg directed the Shin Bet to use its full investigative powers to establish whether the suspicions were supported by evidence and submit its findings within a week.
The allegations have emerged against the backdrop of a sharply divided Israel election. Near-final results gave the bloc supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the Zionist opposition secured 48. Arab parties won a record 19 seats, surpassing their previous high of 15 in 2020.
Netanyahu has increased pressure on Isr*eli Arab leaders on Thursday over unverified allegations of foreign funding, in an attempt to neutralise Arab parties that achieved significant gains following an otherwise unresolved election.
Isr*el’s election remains deadlocked, with neither Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc nor the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot securing the 61-seat majority needed to form a government, leaving the Arab parties as potential kingmakers.
Itamar Ben Gvir, the Minister of National Security with a track record of attacking P*lestinians, even went so far as to urge Isr*el to “immediately” order the arrest of Arab party leaders. The far-right politician stated that the Shin Bet, Isr*el’s domestic security agency, “must order … the arrests of the heads of Arab parties suspected of involvement in Qatari money.”
In the last 24 hours, demonstrations in favour of a coalition comprising Arab-led parties took place in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. No Arab party had joined a coalition government before 2021.
Many P*lestinians view accepting Isr*eli citizenship and participating in Isr*eli elections as a betrayal of the P*lestinian struggle for liberation. They argue that doing so legitimises the occupation of their indigenous lands and the political institutions that sustain it, treating those institutions as a route to justice when they are central to denying P*lestinian rights.
— Sovereign Media (@sov_media) October 30, 2026
High Arab voter turnout helped Ra’am and the Joint List strengthen their parliamentary presence, potentially giving them a decisive role in the formation of a governing coalition. However, most Zionist parties have ruled out cooperation with Arab political factions.
The suspected interference relates to alleged attempts to influence political mobilisation and voting patterns, not to the integrity of the ballot-counting process. Channel 12 reported that Qatar was suspected of transferring money to Arab organisations to encourage turnout and shape voting behaviour. The alleged funding was said to have moved through channels resembling those previously associated with terrorism financing.
Other officials cited by Hebrew media suggested that the scale of the activity may have been smaller than initially reported. They also said similar attempts had occurred in the past, but the latest information had crossed a threshold requiring a formal investigation.
The Israel Central Elections Committee has meanwhile rejected claims of widespread electoral fraud. Acting director general Dean Livne said the election was conducted lawfully, polling stations were protected and there was no evidence of systematic irregularities. He stressed that Sohlberg’s request was based on unverified classified intelligence and did not establish that the election process had been compromised.
Police Commissioner Danny Levy said all complaints concerning possible interference would be examined thoroughly and impartially. On election day, Shin Bet chief Zini had also said the voting process was being monitored and conducted properly.
Police had earlier dismissed Likud allegations of widespread fraud, saying there had been relatively few irregular incidents compared with previous elections and that no investigative or intelligence evidence supported claims of systematic wrongdoing.
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The investigation has coincided with further arrests involving Ra’am activists. Four more party activists were detained on Thursday on suspicion of involvement in an alleged bribery scheme, taking the number arrested in the case to seven. Ra’am has denied the allegations. It remains unclear whether the arrests are connected to the broader investigation into suspected foreign interference.
Likud seized on the developments to warn against what it called an attempt at the “Islamization of Israel”. It argued that no Zionist party should cooperate with Ra’am or the Joint List and dubbed the controversy “Ra’amgate”, describing alleged foreign involvement as an attack on Israeli democracy.
The party did not identify Qatar in its statement, despite media reports focusing on the Gulf state. The issue has acquired an additional political dimension because Netanyahu’s office has separately faced scrutiny over allegations that aides received money for public-relations work linked to Qatar.
Israel Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot of the Yashar party called for a comprehensive investigation into any suspected foreign interference. He also cautioned against using the allegations as a political pretext to postpone the swearing-in of the 26th Knesset, scheduled for November 10.
The investigation could therefore have consequences beyond the question of electoral integrity, potentially deepening tensions over the role of Arab parties in Israel’s parliamentary politics and the formation of the next government.
