Yisrael Beiteinu Files Complaint Over Smear Campaign Against Lieberman

The Yisrael Beiteinu party announced on Monday that it has filed a police complaint and appealed to the Central Elections Committee regarding what it claims is a smear campaign against party chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman and his family. The party alleges that in recent days, SMS messages were widely distributed to Russian-speaking Israelis, linking to a website containing offensive content targeting Lieberman and his relatives. According to a statement from the Yisrael Beiteinu spokesperson, the messages were sent from anonymous phone numbers and written in Russian. The messages, directed at Russian-speaking Israelis, included a link to a dedicated website where, the party claims, false and defamatory content was published. Yisrael Beiteinu emphasized that the campaign targets not only its chairman but also his family members. Following the distribution of these messages, the party decided to approach law enforcement and the Central Elections Committee, demanding an investigation into the incident and identification of those responsible for spreading the content. The party's statement confirmed that a police complaint was filed alongside a formal appeal to the Central Elections Committee, requesting an inquiry into the event and the exposure of the individuals behind the campaign. A key demand from Yisrael Beiteinu is to ascertain the identity of the parties funding the distribution of the messages and the website they direct to.