Shin Bet’s funding claims spark election dispute

Jerusalem Israel’s Shin Bet security agency told election officials that its intelligence points to an effort to influence last week’s vote with money from abroad. Leaders of the opposition Change bloc accused the agency’s chief of helping Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast doubt on the results. Shin Bet told the Central Elections Committee that some of the money came from foreign countries and from people or groups whose interests were hidden or potentially hostile. The agency said it needed to investigate further before it could establish how widespread the activity was. Yair Golan, who leads the Democrats party in the Change bloc, accused Shin Bet chief David Zini of turning the agency into a political tool for Netanyahu. He urged opposition parties to move quickly to form a government. Another opposition leader, Yair Lapid, said a unity government led by Netanyahu was no longer possible. Gadi Eisenkot, who leads the Change bloc, said its parties would defend the results and coordinate their next steps when the new parliament meets. Neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the Change bloc won enough seats to govern alone, leaving Arab parties with a potentially decisive role. The election committee’s leadership voted to approve the results. Its chair, Noam Sohlberg, said the investigation would continue and would not change the outcome. President Isaac Herzog is expected to consult party leaders on whom they support for prime minister before asking a candidate to try to form a government.