Shin Bet Head Updated Netanyahu on Qatar Influence Probe Before Notifying Elections Chair
Translated & summarized from i24NEWS by baba
Shin Bet head David Zini updated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on suspicions of Qatari influence in the Arab sector's voting on Thursday afternoon, contrary to a Shin Bet statement. Zini reportedly approached Elections Committee chair Noam Sohlberg for approval to investigate only after briefing Netanyahu. The Shin Bet statement claimed Sohlberg authorized Zini to update Netanyahu, Lapid, and Eisenkot, implying a different sequence of events.
The story in 4 lines · by baba
- Shin Bet head David Zini updated PM Netanyahu on Qatar influence suspicions before notifying Elections Committee chair.
- The Shin Bet statement presented an inaccurate timeline of the notification process.
- Suspicions involve Qatar allegedly funneling funds to encourage voting in the Arab sector.
- Elections Committee chair Noam Sohlberg was asked to approve the investigation after Netanyahu was briefed.
Serious suspicions that Qatar funneled funds to encourage voting in the Arab sector continue to cause controversy. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) issued a statement Thursday claiming that Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Elections Committee, authorized Shin Bet head David Zini to update Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Opposition leader Yair Lapid, and National Unity party chair Gadi Eisenkot on the investigation.
However, i24NEWS has learned that the timeline presented in the Shin Bet's statement is inaccurate. According to information obtained by i24NEWS and first reported by legal correspondent Avishai Greenzaig, Zini had already updated Netanyahu on the suspicions on Thursday afternoon. Zini then approached Justice Sohlberg to request an investigation into these suspicions only after speaking with the Prime Minister.
The Shin Bet statement had asserted that "apart from Justice Sohlberg, no external party was exposed to the information in question until the end of the elections." It further stated, "With the approval of the Elections Committee chair and at his request, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, National Unity party chair Gadi Eisenkot, and Opposition leader Yair Lapid were personally updated in the last 24 hours by the Shin Bet head on the main points of the investigated suspicions."
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