Shin Bet finds no proof of foreign meddling in Israel's election, Haaretz reports

Two senior Israeli law enforcement officials told Haaretz that the investigation, still ongoing, has found nothing to back claims that several hundred thousand shekels moved from the Palestinian Authority to Arab-led parties in Israel. No transfers from Qatar or any other Arab country are under investigation either. Dozens of people have been questioned so far, and no evidence of money changing hands has surfaced.

"It is certainly not a security matter, and it is highly doubtful that it is even a criminal one," one of the officials said, per Haaretz. Another described the material bluntly: "All there is is intelligence information without any real substantiation."

The allegations came from Shin Bet chief David Zini and Netanyahu, whose Likud party claimed money was pumped in to boost turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel without offering tangible proof. Haaretz also found that major Israeli fuel companies logged no unusual fuel-card activity, undercutting the claim that Arab voters were bribed with fuel cards. Zini, picked by Netanyahu to run Shin Bet last year and seen as his ally, had pushed to investigate several leading Palestinian citizen politicians.

Netanyahu separately questioned why veteran Arab politician Ahmad Tibi visited Qatar days before the vote. Tibi said the Doha trip was to appear on Al Jazeera. Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari rejected the accusations in an October 29 post, saying Israeli politicians and their media contacts had launched "yet another disinformation campaign aiming to drag Qatar into Israeli political disputes." Haaretz has reported that a secret campaign by Israeli influence experts and political advisers targeted Qatar in the weeks after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks.

The timing bites. Arab-led parties took 19 seats on October 27, confirmed by Israel's election authorities, giving Jewish parties opposed to Netanyahu enough seats to push him out if they will work with them. President Isaac Herzog has handed opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot the first shot at forming a government.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said Sunday she had seen no evidence the investigation turned up anything that influenced the results or substantiated a claim that could change them. Israeli police and Shin Bet are expected to hand her their assessments within days.