Ben-Gvir urges Shin Bet chief to arrest Arab party leaders

• Ben-Gvir called on Shin Bet chief David Zini to bypass the Attorney General and interrogate Arab party heads in agency basements
• Claiming the election was "stolen," Ben-Gvir demanded an immediate freeze on certifying results and coalition talks
• The call follows Shin Bet allegations of illicit foreign interference, which run counter to the Central Elections Committee's validation of the vote
• The move intensifies right-wing clashes with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara over evidence-free inquiries into lawmakers

'Israel's' far-right Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Shin Bet Director David Zini on Wednesday to act without the approval of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to arrest and interrogate the leaders of all Arab political parties, demanding an immediate freeze on certified election results and coalition talks.

The call came shortly after 'Israel’s' Central Elections Committee formally approved the election results and Knesset seat distribution, having determined that no systemic irregularities compromised the outcome.

Claiming internal security findings, Ben-Gvir asserted that the agency's disclosures warranted immediate emergency measures outside customary legal channels.

"Following the Shin Bet's exposure of suspicions regarding foreign funding and election interference involving enormous sums and the involvement of thousands of people, I call on the Shin Bet chief, David Zini, to act even without the Attorney General's approval today to arrest all the heads of the Arab parties and interrogate them in the Shin Bet's basements until the suspicions are fully clarified, and to immediately freeze the approval of the election results and the formation of the government," Ben-Gvir stated.

Advancing claims previously echoed by 'Israeli' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, Ben-Gvir alleged that the balloting process had been compromised.

"Elections were stolen here in the State of Israel," he added. "We must not stay silent about this, and we must not leave even a single stone unturned on the way to exposing the truth."

Ben-Gvir’s remarks mark an open call for security forces to circumvent the country's chief legal adviser.

The demand follows a sharp clash earlier in the week between Zini and Attorney General Baharav-Miara, who issued an unusually strong statement warning against politicizing law enforcement and cautioning against requests to question Arab lawmakers -including Mansour Abbas and Ahmad Tibi- without presenting substantiated judicial evidence.

Despite Otzma Yehudit voting against the certification and factions like Likud and Shas abstaining, Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg maintained that unproven suspicions do not justify stalling democratic processes, clearing the results for formal handover to President Isaac Herzog.