Shin Bet Accused of Pressuring Joint List Activists to Spy on Ra’am Party
According to a Sunday report by The Times of Israel, members of the predominantly Arab Joint List party were recently called in by Shin Bet investigators who urged them to share details concerning the competing Islamist Ra’am faction.
The questioning occurred in the wake of the October 27 Knesset election.
Activists summoned for questioning expressed surprise when investigators bypassed Joint List activities to focus entirely on Ra’am. Ra’am broke away from the three factions making up the Joint List—Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad—in 2021.
A member of the Joint List characterized the police session as an effort by authorities to turn him into an informant targeting the competing faction. A Shin Bet investigator highlighted their religious differences while encouraging him to cooperate.
“You’re a Christian. They’re Islamists. You need to cooperate with us against them. Give me something.”
an activist told Channel 12, recounting what the Shin Bet investigator said to him during the questioning.
The member replied that he had no ties to Ra’am and failed to see the reason for his interrogation.
The Joint List Accuses Shin Bet of Political Intimidation
The Joint List accused the Shin Bet of becoming a political tool of the government. The party stressed that such intimidation tactics will neither deter nor silence its members.
“while there are political and ideological differences between us and Ra'am, these are dwarfed by the chasm between us and the Kahanist and fascist forces that threaten all of our futures,” the party warned, addressing the rift between itself and Ra'am that the Shin Bet allegedly looked to exploit.
Addressing the report directly, the security agency said that its actions fall within its lawful mandate as part of a probe into suspected subversion and foreign electoral meddling.
The agency added that it is naturally not possible at this stage to comment on the activities themselves. The Shin Bet has continued to investigate alleged voter fraud and election interference even as election officials maintain the vote was conducted properly.
The probe has primarily focused on the Arab-led Joint List and Ra’am. “there is no suspicion of security offenses” by Arab party heads or any need to interrogate them over the allegations, police reportedly told the State Attorney's Office.
Police Investigate Ra'am Activists for Alleged Vote-Buying
On election day, law enforcement detained three Ra’am members over suspicions that they participated in a vote-buying operation. Police found envelopes of cash and Ra’am ballots during searches of some suspects’ homes, though the men were released without restrictive conditions.
The suspects denied bribery allegations and stated the money was intended for charitable purposes. Separately, the probe examined allegations of outside financial interference involving Qatar, though Haaretz reported later that investigators looked into the transfer of a few hundred thousand shekels from the Palestinian Authority instead.
Benjamin Netanyahu seized on the allegations to suggest Arab parties stole the October 27 Knesset election after he lost his parliamentary majority amid massive Arab voter turnout. Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party voted against certifying the results and submitted draft legislation to dissolve the newly sworn-in Knesset.