The Likud party is at work looking for other ways to combat voter fraud following Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit's legal opinion that suggests such a move could only be made legal through legislation. Israel Hayom has learned that one of the options being finalized in recent days would grant police officers at polling stations the authority to intervene in instances where they suspect voter fraud.
As things currently stand, police officers at polling stations are tasked with maintaining public order. But in recent days, it appears the Central Elections Committee has reached an agreement with the Israel Police that would see officers at the polling stations able to exercise discretion and authority in cases where there are allegations of voter fraud.
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According to a senior Likud official, the forging of votes is "when, for example, at a specific polling station, we see voter turnout is only at 35%, and then toward the evening, they start to deposit ballots and erase voters' names. We have seen cases like that. The problem is that until today, the police hasn't intervened. And even after the elections, when complaints were filed, nothing was done about it."
He noted, "There is a representative of the Israel Police in the election committee, and we will apparently reach an agreement that will see the police at the polling stations receive orders to immediately intervene in cases where there is a suspicion of forgery."
Meanwhile, the High Court of Justice has dismissed a petition filed by the Blue and White party and attorney Shahar Ben Meir on Thursday against the legislation of a bill allowing cameras to be installed in polling stations on the grounds of "non-exhaustion of proceedings. In its ruling, the court noted that it "does not intervene in legislative proceedings while they are underway."
"Even if the petitioners are of the opinion that the legislative procedures for amending the Knesset election law are being initiated by the executive branch in a hurry, there was no reason to rush the petition. Of course, if and when the legislative proceedings are completed, the petitioners will have all of their claims preserved," and the court's doors will remain open to them.
In its petition, submitted by party member Avi Nissenkorn, the Blue and White party asserted that "as this is a transitional government, the government must adopt policies of restraint in exercising its powers, including the promotion of legislative initiatives."
On Twitter, Blue and White party leader Yair Lapid wrote, "Don't get confused. Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] doesn't really want cameras at the polling stations." Instead, Lapid alleged Netanyahu was just gearing up for a campaign that would accuse the Arabs of election forgery.
Netanyahu, for his part, took to Facebook to respond to Blue and White's petition.
"I heard that [Blue and White leaders Benny] Gantz and Lapid intend to challenge our intention to pass a law that allows cameras at the polling stations. What do they have to hide? … How can they explain this? Cameras are the best guarantee that the election won't be stolen. Cameras prevent the stealing of the election, and I understand that they apparently want there to be forgeries and for the election to be stolen. Because there is no other explanation. Because there are cameras in every supermarket and every hospital."
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin of the Likud party blasted the judiciary, saying, "This is a real scandal. Look at the hypocrisy: The heads of the judiciary's job it is to look out for the integrity and equality [of the election], and instead of them initiating the move to install the cameras and demanding that it happens in order to ensure there are no forgeries, they are fighting us and doing everything to allow the forgers to forge."
Levin said, "They are doing this with the clear knowledge that this is the situation, because [Central Elections Committee Chairman] Justice [Hanan] Meltzer himself determined that there are instances of suspicions of fraud. They justify this with the 'constitutional right to privacy.' We live in a world where, at the entrance to the supermarket, you are filmed to prevent theft. So in elections, in an open process, they allow people to steal."
Netanyahu spokesman Jonatan Urich told Israel Radio that "we have discovered in recent days a significant scope of forgery in the election. Forgery, which, had it been checked, would more than likely have shown that [the] Balad [party] would not have passed the election threshold, the New Right would have passed, and the right-wing bloc would have 61 Knesset seats."
