Sohlberg, Shin Bet chief and attorney general say Knesset vote was proper

Update, 1 November, 21:07 Israel time

Two further accounts add context to Sohlberg's statement: a reported six-hour meeting before it, and a link to claims by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the Arab vote.

The political commentator Amit Segal wrote on Telegram that Sohlberg, Shin Bet chief David Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara met for six full hours. According to Segal, Zini complained during the meeting that the Shin Bet's own legal adviser had stopped him from pursuing the investigation into the suspicions to its conclusion. Segal did not name the legal adviser or say what steps were blocked, and no other outlet in the material has reported the complaint.

Haaretz presented the statement as coming after Netanyahu claimed that Arab citizens had "stolen" the vote, and its report is filed under a description referring to a Likud effort to invalidate Arab votes. The available text of the Haaretz piece does not set out the details of those claims or of any such effort.

Haaretz's account of what Sohlberg said matches earlier reporting: that the vote was run properly, that the results reflect what voters chose, and that the foreign interference probe cannot undermine the election as a whole.

The story as first reported

The chairman of Israel's Central Elections Committee, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, told the public on the evening of November 1, 2026 that the recent national vote was carried out properly and that its outcome stands. He spoke in a recorded video statement, flanked by the head of the Shin Bet security service, David Zini, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The Times of Israel reported that the committee's acting director, Dean Livne, also appeared in the video, and that Sohlberg said the election had been "conducted properly" and that the results "reflect the will of the voters."

The statement came against the background of a Shin Bet investigation into suspected foreign influence on the election. Ynet reported that Sohlberg rejected the idea that the evidence gathered could overturn the election result as a whole, while describing the suspicions raised as serious and pledging that they would be examined fully. According to the Times of Israel, Sohlberg said the position he set out was shared by himself, Zini and Baharav-Miara.

What Sohlberg said

A transcript of the opening of the statement, posted by the political commentator Amit Segal on Telegram, shows Sohlberg addressing voters directly. He said he was speaking out of the responsibility entrusted to him to safeguard the integrity of the vote, and promised that the decision voters made at the ballot box would be respected, which he described as the committee's commitment to every citizen. He said the election for the 26th Knesset had been run properly, and that any irregularities were being looked into at present.

On the investigation itself, the Times of Israel quoted Sohlberg as saying that many of the reports published in recent days about the Shin Bet inquiry were wrong. He said the probe was at a classified stage and relied on classified intelligence. Channel 12's political correspondent Dafna Liel, in a post on the N12 news channel, summarised the message the same way: the election was proper, and the claim that the evidence might undermine the results is incorrect. The Jerusalem Post framed the announcement as Sohlberg saying the foreign interference suspicions do not damage the integrity of the election.

Who the three officials are

The Central Elections Committee is the body responsible for organising and overseeing elections to the Knesset, Israel's parliament. It is chaired by a sitting Supreme Court justice, a role Sohlberg currently holds, and it is the authority that oversees the counting of votes and the publication of results.

The Shin Bet, formally the Israel Security Agency, is Israel's domestic security and counterintelligence service. Its Hebrew name, Sherut HaBitachon HaKlali, means General Security Service, and the common name comes from the Hebrew initials. Investigations into suspected attempts by foreign actors to influence Israeli politics fall within its remit. David Zini is its current head.

The attorney general, in Hebrew the legal adviser to the government, heads the state's legal system on the executive side, advising ministers and overseeing prosecutions. Gali Baharav-Miara holds the post.

A joint public appearance by the elections chief, the head of the security service and the government's top legal official is unusual. All three signed on to the same message, according to the reports, which is that the investigation and the validity of the vote are separate questions.

How this fits the week since the vote

The Times of Israel described the election as last week's national vote and said Sohlberg was reiterating a position he had already taken. Both the Times of Israel and Ynet said the statement responded to a wave of reporting in the days before it about alleged interference. News.co.il, in a post headed with the phrase "purity of the elections", presented the video as a formal declaration by the committee chairman alongside the attorney general and the Shin Bet chief.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports identifies which foreign party is suspected of trying to influence the election, or what form the alleged interference took. Sohlberg described most published accounts as inaccurate but, as reported, did not say which claims were wrong or what the correct picture is, citing the classified status of the inquiry.

The reports also do not specify which irregularities the committee is currently examining, how many there are, or when that review will finish. They give no timetable for the Shin Bet investigation, do not say whether it could lead to criminal proceedings, and do not describe whether the final results have yet been formally published. No party standings or seat figures appear in the material.