Israel’s Central Elections Committee head, Noam Sohlberg, said on Sunday that an investigation into alleged foreign funding during the recent election would not affect the election results. He stressed that suspicions alone do not prove wrongdoing and said the election was conducted properly.
The Shin Bet security agency began investigating the allegations last week at Sohlberg’s request. The investigation aims to determine whether the Arab Israeli party Raam received money from Qatar. Both Raam and Qatar have strongly denied the allegations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party have accused Arab parties of “stealing” the election. The election saw significant gains for Arab political groups, which could help opposition parties form a government. However, Sohlberg, the Shin Bet chief and Israel’s attorney general assured the public that the election was fair and that voters’ choices would be respected.
Sohlberg said officials were reviewing possible irregularities but emphasized that the investigation did not challenge the election’s fairness or results. Likud expressed confusion over his statement and described the ongoing investigation as a “dark cloud” hanging over the election results.
Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s main rival, welcomed Sohlberg’s remarks. Eisenkot has criticized Netanyahu’s efforts to question the legitimacy of the election results.
The election did not give any political bloc a clear majority. Netanyahu’s alliance won 53 seats, while Eisenkot’s camp secured 48 seats. Both groups fell short of the 61 seats needed to form a government.
Raam denied receiving foreign funding, while Qatar described the accusations as “ridiculous.” An Israeli court released one suspect linked to alleged vote-buying but kept others in custody. Police had arrested three people on election day over suspicions of attempting to buy votes for Raam. The party denied any connection to the alleged activity.
Sohlberg reiterated that the investigation should not create doubts about the votes cast by Israel’s Arab community. He said Arab voters had exercised their democratic rights and that their votes must be respected.