Shin Bet chief wants to question Arab leaders without proof, attorney general says

Shin Bet chief David Zini requested to question four Arab politicians in an alleged foreign election interference case, but has not provided evidence for three of them, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The three named individuals are Mansour Abbas, head of the Ra'am party, Ahmad Tibi, leader of the Ta'al faction, and Sami Abu Shehadeh, chief of the Balad faction. Abu Shehadeh was disqualified from running in the election held last week. A fourth senior Joint List lawmaker is also targeted, though their name is under a publication ban. The report states there is strong agreement that compelling evidence exists for this unnamed individual.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara issued a public rebuke of Zini, effectively accusing the security chief of undermining democratic norms. Baharav-Miara asked to review the evidence before approving the interrogations. The Shin Bet has provided material only for the unnamed lawmaker. The agency has also failed to transfer the material to police, despite the two bodies agreeing two days earlier to form a joint investigative team.

The Joint List accused Zini of acting as a political arm for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The party stated that Netanyahu is trying to delegitimize the Arab public, which voted in large numbers against his government. They argued that Netanyahu and Zini are attempting to turn the votes of hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens into a security threat.

Abbas said he and his party members are willing to answer any summons from law enforcement. He urged authorities to honor the voters' decision and denounced what he called an attempt to tarnish the Arab public. In contrast, Netanyahu's Likud party accused the attorney general of blocking the interrogations and covering up the investigation into alleged election contamination. Likud has been seeking to delay the publication of final election results over these probes.

Baharav-Miara stated that it is not possible to interrogate citizens or elected officials without justifying evidence. Her office confirmed that for two days the Shin Bet had not transferred evidence to the joint team, hindering the probe. Authorities are currently working to reach a conclusion on the matter.

Officials have affirmed that the election results, which saw Netanyahu's coalition lose its majority, remain valid despite alleged vote-buying and foreign interference probes. Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg reiterated on Sunday that the election was conducted properly. Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot warned Zini against politicizing the agency, while Democrats party chairman Yair Golan urged opposition leaders to move quickly to form a government and review Netanyahu's appointments.