❗️Israel launches ‘foreign interference’ investigation after record Palestinian voter turnout and electoral gains Israel's Central Elections Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg has formally requested that Shin Bet Director David Zini investigate allegations of foreign interference, foreign funding, and vote-buying in the Knesset elections, following a record 77% turnout among Palestinian voters and unprecedented gains by Palestinian parties. In a letter to Zini, Sohlberg called for an official investigation into claims of credible intelligence concerning electoral interference. According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu's Likud party has filed thousands of complaints with police and Shin Bet, accusing Palestinian parties of vote theft, bribery, intimidation, and fraud. Alarmed by the turnout, Likud has also alleged that Qatar and Turkiye paid large numbers of Palestinian voters to secure their votes. The baseless accusations come after Netanyahu's bloc emerged as the largest but failed to secure a parliamentary majority, while Palestinian parties won an estimated 19 Knesset seats, placing them in a potentially decisive position in coalition negotiations. Following Sohlberg's request, extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called on the Shin Bet to seek arrest warrants against leaders of Palestinian parties suspected of links to so-called 'Qatari funding,' as well as other individuals connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, provided legal grounds exist.