Smotrich Urges Shin Bet to Question Arab Party Leaders Over Alleged Foreign Influence in Election

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called on the Shin Bet security service to question the leaders of Arab parties over allegations of foreign influence in the country's election, according to a report by the Israeli news site Haaretz.

Smotrich, who sits on the far right of Israeli politics, said suspicions that the vote was manipulated with foreign Islamist money were "a test for the State of Israel". He added that Arab party leaders "must be questioned by the Shin Bet today".

His remarks followed a call by Justice Noam Sohlberg, chairman of the Central Elections Committee, for an investigation into suspected foreign influence on the elections.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party went further in its response, declaring that "Israel's election was stolen!" It described the situation as "an attack on democracy aimed at enabling a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamization of Israel and the toppling of right-wing rule in order to force an Israeli withdrawal and defeat for the IDF on all fronts, foremost among them Iran."

The claims drew sharp criticism from the opposition. Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats, wrote on X that Netanyahu was trying "to undermine the election results through an ugly campaign to delegitimize the public's will, and the Arab public in particular".

The dispute comes as the vote count remains unfinished. With more than 90 percent of ballots counted, preliminary results point to a deadlock between Netanyahu's outgoing bloc and the Zionist opposition.

Neither side has reached the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority. One factor is the projected performance of Palestinian-led parties, which are expected to win a record 19 seats.

Those parties have offered to back a minority government led by the opposition in order to keep Netanyahu from returning to power. However, key opposition figures have rejected the idea of governing with Arab parties.