Police Said to Lack Sufficient Evidence for Criminal Probe Into Alleged Foreign Election Funding

Israeli police are expected to recommend against opening a criminal investigation into suspicions that funds were transferred from Qatar and other countries during the recent Knesset election campaign, unless the Shin Bet security agency delivers significant additional evidence, Maariv reported Friday.

The emerging position follows a review by the police Investigations and Intelligence Division of materials handed over by the Shin Bet. According to Maariv, senior officers in the Lahav 433 national crime unit examined the files, which had been passed to the office of Assistant-Chief Boaz Balat, head of the division, and found that the evidence at this stage does not establish grounds to investigate suspected serious offenses.

After completing the review, the officials drafted an assessment and sent it back to the Shin Bet. The document states that the existing findings point, at most, to a possible minor violation of party financing laws, and raises doubts over whether that suspected offense alone would justify a criminal probe.

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 material examined so far could change.

The Shin Bet is expected to submit its materials to Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, together with the police assessment and the agency's own evaluation of the findings. Baharav-Miara will then decide whether there are sufficient grounds to authorize a criminal investigation or whether to close the case.

The affair began shortly before the elections for the 26th Knesset, when the Shin Bet received intelligence raising suspicions that foreign entities had transferred funds to influence the vote. Reports published by Walla said investigators examined possible involvement by actors 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 examined at the outset of the affair, before police began reviewing the findings. Sohlberg said serious material had been presented to him but clarified that it did not provide grounds to invalidate the election results.

The Shin Bet is also investigating suspicions that a serving Joint List member received thousands of shekels from Qatar that were then used by the party during the campaign. Investigators said they currently have no evidence of what the money was used for, and it remains unclear what material suggests the funds originated in Qatar.

Qatar has rejected Likud's accusations that it interfered in the election. "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.

Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas denied any involvement in the alleged interference scheme and appeared to back the launch of an investigation, while taking a swipe at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "And to Abu Yair, 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."