Netanyahu alleges foreign spending to sway Israeli election as Arab bloc decries persecution

A dispute over alleged foreign interference is intensifying in Israel after the October 27 parliamentary election. In a video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were serious suspicions that foreign states had spent considerable sums to influence the outcome. The Joint List, the largest Arab-Israeli bloc and a coalition of three parties, called this political persecution. Arab-Israeli turnout in the vote was at record levels.

Probe into Odeh

Several Israeli media outlets, citing unnamed officials, report that outgoing lawmaker Ayman Odeh will be investigated. Odeh is a former leader of the Joint List and a veteran politician from the left-wing party Hadash. The internal security agency Shin Bet is reportedly examining whether he received hundreds of thousands of shekels, roughly $100,000, from an unspecified foreign entity. The Joint List said it would not allow the Arab public's vote to be delegitimised and accused Netanyahu of clinging to power.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Tuesday rejected a Shin Bet request to question other Arab party leaders without evidence, angering Netanyahu's allies. Netanyahu pointed to arrests of several people carrying envelopes of cash on election day, which authorities described as localised incidents. He also accused leaders of taking money from Qatar, an allegation previously made against Netanyahu's own aides.

Checks on the results

The Central Elections Committee audited 9,069 polling stations after complaints and found no evidence undermining the integrity of the results. Yair Golan, a left-wing leader in the main opposition alliance, accused Netanyahu's camp of abusing power. He was likely referring to the arrest late Tuesday of Arab-Israeli journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh, who is being questioned over alleged contact with a foreign agent, according to the rights group Adalah.