Anonymous Poll Targeting Arab Voters Linked to Channel 14

The organization Fake Reporter has filed a petition with the Central Elections Committee, demanding the disclosure of who commissioned and funded an online poll distributed to Arab voters. The organization alleges that the poll, which was sent via SMS messages on September 25, is not a genuine survey but a manipulative tactic designed to influence voters and discourage them from supporting Ra'am, led by Mansour Abbas.

The poll appeared on the website of Next Data, a survey company established by the media group that owns Channel 14. Natanel Simantov, a representative of the channel's owners, serves as a director at Next Data, and Ofarim Media, linked to Channel 14's controlling owner Yitzhak Mirilashvili, also holds shares in the company. Next Data also conducts election polls published on Channel 14.

The petition highlights unusual questions within the poll, which focused exclusively on Ra'am. One question suggested that Yoav Seglovitz, former head of investigations in the police, was placed second on Ra'am's list and asked respondents how this would affect their voting intentions. Another question asked how support for the LGBTQ+ community by Seglovitz would influence their vote for Ra'am, with options including not voting for the party or continuing to vote for it.

Fake Reporter argues that these questions are designed to introduce negative messages and create aversion among voters, characterizing the operation as a "Push Poll" or "bias poll" aimed at electoral manipulation rather than neutral public opinion research. The organization notes grammatical errors in the Arabic SMS messages as further evidence of questionable origins.

Fake Reporter previously demanded that Next Data reveal the identity of the poll's commissioner, funders, question crafters, and distributors, as well as the scope of distribution and the source of phone numbers. The company reportedly did not respond by the deadline. The petition now asks the Central Elections Committee chairman, Judge Noam Solberg, to order Next Data to disclose within 48 hours the identity of the entity that commissioned the messages and questionnaire, their contact details, and the party or organization they represented.