Shin Bet chief Zini briefs Netanyahu and Eisenkot on suspected election interference

David Zini, the head of the Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security agency, has met separately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with Gadi Eisenkot to brief them on suspicions concerning the country's elections, according to several Israeli outlets. The Times of Israel reported that the meetings were held to discuss a probe into alleged election interference.

The two meetings took place on consecutive days. Political commentator Amit Segal wrote that Zini saw Netanyahu the previous day and Eisenkot in the morning, and that he updated both men on what Segal called "the affair." Ynet's news alerts service said Zini had presented Netanyahu with the suspicions of an attempt to tilt the elections, and that his meeting with Eisenkot came on the day of the report.

The order of the briefings

A further detail came via Barak Ravid of Axios, who relayed a report from the Israeli daily Israel Hayom. According to that account, Zini gave Netanyahu the information in a private, one-on-one meeting, and did so before he went to Judge Solberg, the chairman of the Central Elections Committee. The reports reviewed here do not say what took place at the meeting with Solberg, or whether it has already happened.

The sequence matters to readers following the story because it sets out who learned of the suspicions first. On the account relayed by Ravid, the prime minister was informed before the official in charge of running the elections.

What the Shin Bet is

The Shin Bet, also known by its Hebrew acronym Shabak, is the Israel Security Agency. It is responsible for internal security, counterterrorism and counterintelligence inside Israel, and it reports to the prime minister. Its head is one of the most senior security officials in the country. Because the agency answers to the prime minister's office, a briefing by its chief to the head of government on a sensitive matter is a recognised channel, while a parallel briefing to a figure outside government is less routine.

The Central Elections Committee

The Central Elections Committee is the body that organises and supervises elections to the Knesset, Israel's parliament. It is made up of representatives of the parties in the Knesset and is chaired by a justice of the Supreme Court. The chairman named in the Israel Hayom report, Judge Solberg, holds that post. The committee is the authority to which concerns about the conduct and fairness of a vote would normally be directed.

Different words for the same matter

The outlets describe the subject of the briefings in slightly different terms. The Times of Israel uses the phrase alleged election interference. Ynet speaks of suspicions of tilting the elections. The Israel Hayom report, as relayed by Ravid, refers to information about a suspicion concerning the integrity, or purity, of the elections, a standard Hebrew legal phrase. Segal refers only to an affair without describing it. None of these descriptions identifies who is suspected or what form the alleged interference took, and the differences in wording may reflect only the shorthand of breaking news alerts.

Who was briefed

The reports name only two people as recipients of Zini's briefings besides the elections committee chairman: Netanyahu, as head of government, and Eisenkot. Eisenkot is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces who has since entered politics. The reports do not explain why he in particular was briefed, or whether other political leaders were or will be given the same information.

What the reports do not say

• None of the reports describes the substance of the suspicions, including who is alleged to be behind any interference or whether the source is inside or outside Israel.
• The reports do not say what the Shin Bet's probe involves, when it began, or whether any other agency is involved.
• It is not stated why Eisenkot was chosen for a briefing or whether other party leaders received one.
• The outcome of Zini's contact with the Central Elections Committee chairman is not reported.
• No official statement from the Shin Bet, the prime minister's office or Eisenkot is quoted in the material.

Israel.com will update this report if the agency or the people briefed make further details public.