Netanyahu's chief of staff provided intel. leading to arrests in Ra'am vote bribery case - report
Senior officials told N12 that the election bribery case is unlikely to result in an indictment and that the suspects have explained the source of the money.
According to the report, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Chief of Staff, Ido Norden, provided information to the Israel Police that resulted in the arrest of three Arab Ra'am party activists on suspicion of election bribery. The three suspects, all Bedouins from the Segev Shalom and Ar'ara BaNegev communities, were accused of attempting to bribe citizens to vote for Ra'am on the day of the elections.
Norden reportedly called senior police officials and supplied them with details that led to the investigation and the arrests. The case has now been assigned to Lahav 433.
Netanyahu called for a formal investigation following the arrests, asserting that the suspects were found with envelopes containing cash and ballots for Ra'am party chairman Mansour Abbas. He urged right-wing voters to vote for Likud to protect the integrity of the elections. Ra'am party responded, categorically rejecting the allegations of compromising electoral integrity and stating that the activists were arrested at their homes hours before the polls opened.
They alleged that these arrests were baseless and intended to suppress voter turnout within the Arab society, part of political exploitation by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The suspects explained the source of the money in question, and senior officials told the news outlet that the case is unlikely to result in an indictment. The suspects claimed they had nothing to hide and invited Abbas to investigate the alleged election interference scheme. Abbas denied involvement in the separate scheme and stated that Netanyahu employs Qatari agents.
He also welcomed the decision of the Central Elections Committee Chairman, Justice Noam Sohlberg, to investigate suspicions of improper influence through foreign funding during the elections. Abbas dismissed Netanyahu's accusations, stating that there will be nothing, as there is nothing. The Shin Bet launched an investigation into suspicions that foreign entities, potentially including Qatar and Turkey, funneled money into Israel to influence voting in Arab communities.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
