Minister Alleges Vote Buying, Opposition Demands Proof
Translated & summarized from Kikar HaShabbat by baba
Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf claimed his party received evidence of vote-buying for the Ra'am party on election day, including cash and weapons. Police have arrested seven suspects for election bribery. The Shin Bet reportedly held intelligence for weeks on alleged foreign funding of elections, waiting for actual transactions before reporting to the Elections Committee chairman, who ordered an investigation.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf alleged vote-buying for Ra'am party with cash and weapons observed on election day.
- Police have arrested seven suspects in connection with election bribery allegations.
- The Shin Bet reportedly possessed intelligence on foreign election funding for weeks.
- Elections Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg ordered the Shin Bet to investigate foreign funding suspicions.
- Deputy Chairman Vladimir Beliak demanded evidence and questioned the basis for the investigation.
Minister of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Yitzhak Wasserlauf stated on Thursday that his party, Otzma Yehudit, received documentation and testimonies on election day regarding alleged irregularities at polling stations, including claims of money being distributed in exchange for votes for the Ra'am party. Wasserlauf said dozens of reports and documentation were transferred in real-time to relevant authorities, with additional materials gathered from individuals in the field. He presented an example of a report from an activist at a polling station in Rahat, alleging that a sheikh and his associates were seen outside the polling station assisting voters, with Ra'am envelopes containing money and individuals carrying long weapons also observed.
Wasserlauf added that Member of Knesset Yitzhak Kroizer has contacted the Chairman of the Elections Committee regarding the matter, and that the collection of further evidence is ongoing. Meanwhile, the police announced the arrest of four additional men on Thursday, bringing the total to seven suspects in connection with election bribery, with the investigation now handled by Lahav 433.
Vladimir Beliak, Deputy Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, has requested an urgent meeting of the committee's presidency. He wrote to Chairman Noam Sohlberg questioning what evidence was presented to prompt an investigation into election integrity, especially in light of a police clarification that there was no evidence of systematic damage to the election's fairness and that election day had fewer incidents than the previous election. Beliak also raised concerns about potential forbidden campaigning by the Likud party via Channel 14 and improper use of public funds by Shas and the Religious Zionism party.
It was previously reported that Chairman Sohlberg had instructed the head of the Shin Bet, David Zini, to investigate suspicions of foreign funding of the elections, with findings to be submitted within a week. The investigation into alleged election bribery in the Arab community includes information that millions of shekels from enemy states were allegedly transferred to Israel to fund vote-buying and influence the results of the 26th Knesset elections. The Shin Bet reportedly held this intelligence for several weeks, opting to wait for the actual transfer of funds and bribery to occur to build a solid evidentiary basis before approaching Sohlberg.
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