Beersheba Court Frees Last Ra'am Vote-Buying Suspect

The Beersheba Magistrate's Court ordered the unconditional release of Ibrahim al-Garibi on Wednesday, ending the custody of the final suspect in a police investigation into alleged vote-buying by the Ra'am party.

Police arrested Garibi and two other men at dawn on election day. Officers searched their homes and found envelopes containing cash and Ra'am ballots. The three men denied the bribery charges, stating the money was intended for charitable purposes.

Judge Eran Tzabari rejected police requests to place Garibi under house arrest and restrict his internet access. Tzabari criticized the investigating unit for making no progress in the case and failing to verify the defendant's claims. The judge stated there was no sense in keeping the defendant under house arrest.

Garibi is the last of the three suspects to be freed. Saef Abu Reash was released unconditionally on Sunday after a judge faulted police for lacking new evidence to support detention. Hussein al-Masoudin was released Tuesday after a two-day remand extension approved by Tzabari. Police did not appeal the release of Abu Reash or al-Masoudin.

Police initially reported finding tens of thousands of shekels in cash in the suspects' homes. Abu Reash's lawyer disputed this, claiming no money was found in his client's home and that a total of 12,000 shekels, approximately 3,800 dollars, was found in the other two homes. Police later acknowledged that they searched the three homes without warrants.

Hebrew media reports indicate the arrests followed a tip from Ido Norden, the chief of staff to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu claimed in a video statement that the allegations against the three men reflected an attempt to steal the election. The Ra'am case became one of two investigations cited by Netanyahu and Likud to argue the October 27 vote was compromised.

The second investigation concerns suspected foreign funding and influence operations. On Wednesday, the Shin Bet told the Central Elections Committee that intelligence in that separate probe pointed to foreign funding involving thousands of people. The agency said further investigation was needed to establish the scale and did not present public evidence that the activity changed the result.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara criticized the Shin Bet's handling of the foreign-interference probe. She stated in a statement that it is not possible to interrogate citizens or elected officials without evidence that justifies the action. The Shin Bet has sought to question four top Arab politicians in that case.

The Central Elections Committee certified the results of the October 27 vote on Wednesday. The committee reviewed protocols from 9,069 polling stations and found no irregularities indicating that the integrity of the election had been compromised or that the results had been altered.