Police: Shin Bet must provide more evidence before investigation into foreign funding of elections

According to the assessment, the existing findings suggest, at most, a possible minor violation of party financing laws, raising doubts about the justification for a full criminal investigation.Follow us on GoogleBoaz Balat, head of the Israel Police's Investigations Department attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset, in the Israeli parliament on April 27, 2025.(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)NOVEMBER 13, 2026 11:16Unless the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) provides additional significant evidence, police are expected to recommend against pursuing a criminal investigation into the affair involving funds transferred from Qatar and other countries during the election campaign, Maariv learned on Friday.The emerging recommendation follows a review of materials the Shin Bet submitted to the Israel Police's Investigations and Intelligence Division. The review found that, at this stage, the evidence does not provide sufficient grounds to open a criminal investigation into suspected serious offenses.Maariv learned that senior officials in Lahav 433 - The National Crime Unit examined the materials that Shin Bet had transferred to the office of Assistant-Chief Boaz Balat, head of the police's Investigations and Intelligence Division.After reviewing the materials, officials prepared an assessment and sent it back to the Shin Bet. According to the assessment, the existing findings suggest, at most, a possible minor violation of party financing laws, raising doubts about whether the suspected offense alone would justify opening a criminal investigation.However, the process remains at an interim stage, and no final decision has been made. Should the Shin Bet present significant new findings, the assessment based on the evidence examined so far could change.Israeli attorney general Gali Baharav Miara attends a House committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on, June 9, 2026 (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)According to information obtained by Maariv, the Shin Bet is expected to submit its materials to Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, along with the police assessment and its own evaluation of the findings.Baharav-Miara will then have to decide whether there are sufficient grounds to authorize a criminal investigation or whether to close the case.It should be recalled that Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg addressed evidence related to the elections at the beginning of the affair, even before police began reviewing the findings.Sohlberg said that serious findings had been presented to him but clarified that they did not provide grounds to invalidate the election results.Now that police investigators have also reviewed the materials, indications are that, unless the Shin Bet provides additional evidence, police will not recommend proceeding with a criminal investigation into the affair.The final decision will rest with Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara.Shin Bet investigating whether Joint List member received money from QatarThe Shin Bet is investigating suspicions that a current Joint List member received thousands of shekels from Qatar, which were then used by the party during the election campaign.At this stage, investigators noted, they have no evidence of what the money was used for. It is also unclear what evidence suggests the funds originated from Qatar.The affair began after the Shin Bet received intelligence shortly before the elections for the 26th Knesset, raising suspicions that foreign entities transferred funds to influence the vote.According to reports published by Walla, investigators examined suspicions of involvement by entities linked to Iran, Turkey, and Qatar, as well as the distribution of cash and benefits to voters in the Arab community.Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg ordered the information to be examined to determine whether evidence existed to substantiate the suspicions.Qatar denied Likud accusations that it had interfered in Israel’s elections.“We categorically deny allegations that Qatar has interfered in Israeli elections or funded any activities intended to influence their outcome,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari wrote on X/Twitter.Mansour Abbas rejects possibility of election interference, takes shot at NetanyahuRa'am Chairman Mansour Abbas denied allegations of involvement in the alleged election interference scheme, apparently backing the launch of an investigation into the matter.He also jabbed: "And to Abu Yair [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu], who employs Qatari agents in his office, we have one message in response to the campaign of incitement and delegitimization he is conducting against Arab citizens: 'There will be nothing, because there is nothing.' Unlike you, with us this is the truth and not another lie."Hodaya Ran, Jonah Davidov, and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.Follow us on Google