Israels election monitor demands probe after Netanyahu alleges Arab rigging: Serious suspicions

Israel’s election monitor has demanded a probe into foreign meddling in the country’s election after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies alleged fraud over a high Arab voter turnout.Noah Sohlberg, the head of the Central Elections Committee, asked Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, to investigate alleged funding by “external actors operating against Israeli interests,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by Bloomberg.

Sohlberg cited “serious suspicions,” while acknowledging, “I am not in a position to attest to the validity of these suspicions,” the outlet reported.Arab parties, which are projected to have won about 19 of the 120 seats in Israel’s parliament following Tuesday’s vote, strongly denied fraud allegations.Shin Bet declined to tell the outlet whether it would open an investigation, which the election committee wants to be completed within a week.

Israeli police added that they would investigate any complaints of election irregularities.The allegations follow an unprecedented surge in voting among Israeli Arabs, who make up roughly 20% of the population.

Turnout among the demographic was roughly 53% in the 2022 election, while participation in some Arab localities surged to roughly 80% this year.During Tuesday’s vote, Netanyahu took to social media to make incendiary comments, telling his supporters Israel could cease to be a Jewish state if they didn’t rush to the polls as Arabs voted in historic numbers.Mansour Abbas, the head of the Ra’am party — one of the two main Israeli Arab parties — said in a statement to the outlet that it has “no connection whatsoever to the discussed affair or to other affairs, and we will fully cooperate with all law enforcement authorities to ascertain the truth.”Abbas accused Netanyahu of working with “Qatari agents,” allegations which the Qatari ministry of foreign affairs said they “categorically deny.”“We categorically deny alle...