Acting Director-General of Israel’s Central Elections Committee, attorney Dean Livneh, said Thursday that elections in Israel cannot be falsified, speaking at Reichman University’s conference, “Data, Power and the State in the Age of AI.” He said the real danger is public distrust, not manipulated results, and argued that any attempt to rig a national vote would require “a conspiracy of tens of thousands of people.”
Livneh said the committee uses extensive technological and human safeguards, with oversight at every stage and inspectors at every polling station. “There is no envelope we do not know where it came from and where it is going,” he said, adding that the committee is preparing the most transparent election ever by broadcasting live from the vault holding the double envelopes.
To address misinformation and deepfakes, the committee has set up a special team and is working with security, technology and legal experts. Livneh said the committee will be active across social networks, the media and other platforms, and is coordinating with Meta and TikTok to quickly identify misleading content and remove it before it can affect election day.
He also said the commission is preparing for emergencies, including war, a pandemic, a natural disaster or any other scenario. Citing Israel’s election held during COVID-19, he said the country was the first to vote during a pandemic. If sirens sound on election day, he said, the procedures include securing the polling station, locking away election materials, filming the scene and resuming voting immediately after the alert ends. On political pressure, he said there is always pressure but no intimidation: “I will do my job well for everyone, no matter what they do.”
