Ayman Odeh cuts short vacation amid Shin Bet investigation request

Israeli MK Ayman Odeh is returning early from a family vacation abroad after Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar requested a police investigation into alleged receipt of funds from the Palestinian Authority. Odeh's associates call it political persecution.

MK Ayman Odeh has decided to cut short his family vacation abroad and is expected to return to Israel later today (Thursday), amid an examination of whether he received hundreds of thousands of shekels from the Palestinian Authority and reports that he is expected to be questioned under caution. According to his associates, the early return is intended to make clear that he does not intend to be deterred by the moves against him, and they argued that he sees the affair as an attempt at political persecution while turning the Shin Bet into a tool in the political battle waged by Netanyahu. However, police said that as of now, the Shin Bet has not transferred any intelligence information or investigation products, and that a joint investigation team has not yet been established. The Attorney General, as far as is known, has not yet authorized the existence of such an investigation against Odeh. Shin Bet chief David Zini also demanded to investigate Hadash-Ta'al chairman Ahmad Tibi, Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas, and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shahadeh, without presenting evidence against them. President Isaac Herzog spoke with Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara after their unusual confrontation, and the two agreed to lower the flames.