Shin Bet chief: Foreign government plans to interfere in Israel’s elections

Nadav Argaman, head of Israel’s Security Agency, or Shin Bet, revealed that a foreign country plans to intervene in Israel’s upcoming election.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

Nadav Argaman, head of Israel’s Security Agency, or Shin Bet, revealed that a foreign country plans to intervene in Israel’s upcoming elections, according to Israel’s Channel 2 news.

“One hundred percent [country’s name] will intervene in the upcoming elections and I know what I’m talking about, but I don’t know who will benefit,” Argaman said at a closed meeting of a Tel Aviv university conference. Israel’s Army censor would not allow the publication of the name of the country in question.

Argaman’s remarks were widely reported in Israeli media on Wednesday, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say, “We’re prepared to thwart any interference during the elections… We are prepared for any scenario, and no country is better prepared than we are.”

Russia also responded to the Shin Bet chief’s comments, declaring that it hadn’t interfered in Israeli elections. “Don’t read the Israeli media, what was said there didn’t happen,” the Kremlin said. “Russia doesn’t interfere, didn’t interfere and doesn’t intend to interfere in any elections, in any country in the world.”

The Russian Embassy in Israel even sent out a tongue-in-cheek tweet about election meddling on Wednesday.

Election meddling has become a major issue with U.S. President Donald Trump plagued by accusations that he won the White House with help from Russian interference. A special counsel investigation led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller has been studying the issue since May 17, 2017, but has as of yet not released its findings.