Shin Bet asked Joint List activists for info on rival Ra’am in vote fraud probe — report

The Shin Bet summoned Joint List activists for questioning about the rival Ra'am party as part of a vote fraud probe, according to a Channel 12 report. Activists said investigators tried to recruit them as informants, with one citing a religious pitch. The Joint List accused the Shin Bet of becoming a political tool, while the agency said it acts within its legal authority.

The Shin Bet called in activists from the majority-Arab Joint List party in recent days and pressed them to provide information about the rival Islamist Ra'am party, Channel 12 reported Saturday, citing several activists who alleged that they were questioned. The report comes after Central Elections Committee Chairman Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg said on Thursday that information provided so far regarding suspicions of foreign interference in last month's election has not yet yielded evidence of wrongdoing. According to the Joint List activists cited by Channel 12, the activists who were summoned for questioning were surprised to find that investigators were focusing their questioning on Ra'am, which broke away from the three factions that make up the Joint List in 2021. One Joint List activist described the police interrogation as an attempt to recruit him as an informant against the rival party. One activist told Channel 12 that a Shin Bet investigator highlighted their religious differences while encouraging him to cooperate, saying: 'You're a Christian. They're Islamists. You need to cooperate with us against them. Give me something.' The Joint List accused the Shin Bet of becoming 'a political tool of the government.' The Shin Bet told Channel 12 that it is acting 'in accordance with its legal authority' as part of an investigation into suspected 'subversion and foreign influence' relating to the election. The framing relies on allegations from Joint List activists without independent verification.