Mayor of Arad reveals: how the vote-buying system in the Arab sector works

Mayor of Arad Yair Maayan reveals a vote-buying system in the Arab sector: party representatives pay families with envelopes of cash or rechargeable fuel cards according to the number of eligible voters. According to him, the system is known from previous elections but this time its scope is exceptional. The police investigation uncovered envelopes with tens of thousands of shekels and Ra'am ballots, alongside suspicions of foreign funding from enemy states.

Mayor of Arad Yair Maayan describes an organized system of vote-buying in the Arab sector, involving the transfer of envelopes of cash or rechargeable fuel cards to entire families according to the number of eligible voters in them. According to him, the system is not new and also operated in previous elections, but this time its scope is exceptional: "they went all in." The remarks come against the backdrop of a police investigation into suspicions of election bribery in Arab society, during which envelopes with tens of thousands of shekels and ballots of the Ra'am party were seized. Channel commentator Noam Amir revealed suspicions of foreign funding from enemy states amounting to millions of shekels. Minister Bezalel Smotrich demanded that the Shin Bet investigate the heads of the Arab parties. The Likud party submitted hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence to the authorities.