Israeli police on Sunday released two of three suspects arrested in an alleged voter bribery case, a move that weakens Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party's efforts to discredit last week's parliamentary elections. A judge questioned or rejected police requests for further restrictions on the three suspects. Police said one was released with unspecified conditions, another was ordered to house arrest for eight days, and the third suspect's detention was extended for two days.
The suspects were arrested before polls opened on Oct. 27 with envelopes of cash allegedly intended to bribe voters. Police said they were connected to the Islamist Ra'am party, which denied involvement. Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas denounced the arrests as undemocratic and "an attempt to influence the election results."
Likud has claimed without evidence that Arab-led parties "stole" the election, in which Netanyahu's bloc dropped to 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset. A rival bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats, and Arab-led parties including Ra'am won the remaining 19 seats, giving the opposition a potential majority.
Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, head of the elections committee, said in a video released Sunday that even if suspicions of foreign interference are substantiated, "our position is that even if the suspicions are substantiated, this would not undermine the integrity of the electoral process or the election results as a whole." The Shin Bet security service has opened an investigation into the foreign interference allegations at the election commission's request.
Official results are due to be certified this week. President Isaac Herzog will begin meeting with parties on Wednesday to determine who they prefer as prime minister, likely Netanyahu or Eisenkot. If coalition negotiations fail, the country could face a new election early next year.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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