Legal Correspondent Questions Shin Bet Handling of Election Funding Probe
Translated & summarized from Srugim by baba
Legal affairs correspondent Avishai Greenzaig criticized the Shin Bet's handling of a probe into foreign election funding, suggesting it may have aimed to help the Ra'am party. The Shin Bet chief allegedly knew of the issue before declaring elections safe. The agency head briefed Prime Minister Netanyahu and other officials, but Greenzaig questioned the investigation's timing and public disclosure.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Avishai Greenzaig claims Shin Bet suspects foreign funds aided Ra'am party in elections.
- Shin Bet allegedly had pre-election knowledge of funding but declared elections safe.
- Shin Bet chief briefed PM Netanyahu, election committee chair, and President Herzog.
- Greenzaig criticizes Shin Bet for "publishing first, then investigating" the matter.
- The probe investigates if funds were part of Qatari effort to influence election results.
Legal affairs correspondent Avishai Greenzaig has revealed new details and criticized the Shin Bet's handling of an investigation into foreign funding in the Arab sector, suggesting the agency's current working assumption is that the funds were intended to aid the Ra'am party in elections. The ongoing probe focuses on the flow of these funds and whether they are part of a broader Qatari effort to influence election results. Greenzaig emphasized that no confirmation of this has been found yet, but the investigation is ongoing.
Greenzaig highlighted a "disturbing" fact: the Shin Bet received crucial information before election day. Despite this, the Shin Bet chief declared the elections "inspiringly supervised and completely safe" on election day, while allegedly being aware of the details of the funding issue. This statement has drawn sharp criticism.
Following the revelations, the Shin Bet chief met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, updated the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee Judge Noam Sohlberg, and briefed Gadi Eisenkot, President Isaac Herzog, and other officials. Greenzaig asserted that the transfer of funds requires investigation but strongly attacked the public and investigative management of the affair, calling it "insanely inflated" and questioning the logic of "publishing first, then investigating" and allowing elections to proceed before addressing the issue, especially since the Shin Bet is a counter-terrorism agency, not an enforcement body.
Greenzaig concluded by expressing deep skepticism about the organization's conduct, noting the public release of information while the investigation is still determining the scope of the matter.
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