Shin Bet Chief and Attorney General Clash Over Foreign Interference Probe as Likud Demands Answers
A bitter confrontation has erupted at the highest levels of Israel’s security and legal establishment over an investigation into suspected foreign interference in last week’s Knesset election, with Shin Bet Director David Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara accusing each other of obstructing the inquiry.
The dispute centers on allegations of foreign involvement in the election and possible connections between hostile foreign interests and Arab Knesset members. Zini reportedly wants investigators to use expanded national security powers, while Baharav-Miara maintains that such measures cannot be authorized without sufficient evidence.
The controversy intensified Tuesday evening as Likud, Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism accused the attorney general of interfering with the investigation. Some coalition figures demanded that she be removed from the case entirely, while opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot warned against allowing political considerations to influence the security services.
Likud claimed that Baharav-Miara was preventing investigators from questioning Arab political figures, including Ahmad Tibi, Mansour Abbas, Sami Abu Shehadeh and another Knesset member whose name has surfaced in reports concerning the allegations.
“The reports this evening are an earthquake for Israeli democracy,” Likud declared, accusing the attorney general of blocking the Shin Bet from employing security-related investigative methods and attempting to keep suspicions of a national security offense from becoming public.
“Baharav-Miara is working to cover up and sabotage the investigation into the contamination of the elections. This is what selective enforcement looks like,” the party said.
Likud called on Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg and the Central Elections Committee to examine the allegations and provide the public with answers.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir went further, demanding Baharav-Miara’s immediate removal from any involvement in the investigation.
“I demand that she be removed now, moved aside, and not allowed to interfere in the investigation into the manipulation of the elections,” Ben Gvir said.
“She is contaminating the investigation. She must not be allowed to extend her tentacles into it. The attorney general must step aside. The person who should manage the investigation is Shin Bet Director David Zini,” he continued.
Ben Gvir then made the explosive allegation that the election results had been improperly influenced.
“They stole the elections here! The people of Israel will not accept the theft of the elections!” he declared.
No conclusive evidence establishing that the election results were stolen has been publicly presented.
Religious Zionism also demanded action against the attorney general, arguing that the allegations concerning her conduct warranted immediate intervention.
“If the head of the Shin Bet is indeed claiming that Gali Baharav-Miara is obstructing an investigation that goes to the heart of Israeli democracy, then this is an earthquake,” the party said.
The party urged Justice Sohlberg to order Baharav-Miara’s removal from the investigation and demanded a comprehensive examination of suspected ties between hostile foreign elements and Arab lawmakers.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch joined the criticism, asking, “Gali, aren’t you tired of destroying Israeli democracy?”
Eisenkot, meanwhile, issued a sharply different warning, directing his criticism toward Netanyahu and Likud and cautioning Zini against allowing the Shin Bet to become entangled in political maneuvering.
“Those serving in Israel’s security establishment, law enforcement and public service serve the state, not the king. Woe to anyone who corrupts his authority and position for political considerations,” Eisenkot said.
He accused Netanyahu and Likud of attempting to destabilize the country’s democratic institutions following an election in which Netanyahu’s bloc failed to secure a majority.
“In their desperation, Likud and Netanyahu are attempting to carry out a pogrom against democracy and the rule of law. They are trying to drag all of us into a dangerous constitutional crisis. Unfortunately, not for the first time,” Eisenkot declared.
