Shin Bet Director Nadav Argaman
Photo: Motti Kimchi
Shin Bet Director says 'foreign country' trying to meddle in elections
Nadav Argaman warns against attempts of 'foreign country' meant to meddle in upcoming elections; the agency says Israel is fully capable of protecting itself.
Shin Bet Director Nadav Argaman has warned against the meddling of a foreign country in the April 9 elections, saying the move could influence the elections' outcome, the Israeli media reported on Tuesday.
Speaking at a Friends of Tel Aviv University conference on Monday, Argaman said that a foreign country intends to launch cyber attacks in order to influence Israel's general elections.
Shin Bet Director Nadav Argaman (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
"I don’t know in favor of whom or against whom the foreign country will interfere. At this point, I cannot say which political interest plays a role here, however, a foreign country will attempt to meddle in the April elections and I know what I'm talking about," the Shin Bet director said.
In response, the Shin Bet domestic security service said in a statement that "should the need arise, Israel and its community intelligence have the tools and the ability to detect, monitor, and thwart attempts of foreign countries to influence the April elections."
Meanwhile, State Comptroller Yosef Shapira announced earlier Tuesday that his office is already planning to conduct a comprehensive examination of the issue of cybersecurity in relation to the upcoming elections.
According to Shapira, the primaries and election campaign for the 21st Knesset poses a new, important challenge, since part of the election campaign is run on websites and social media.
"(Examining this issue) is a difficult challenge, however, we must adjust ourselves to the times we live in order to stay relevant," Shapira said.
"The public trust that the elections' outcome reflects the voters' will is a cornerstone of Israeli democracy. Foreign meddling, which would harm the credibility of the election system and results, might cause profound damage to the public trust in democracy," he said. “Therefore, I've instructed my staff to plan for to inspect social media and of the cyberspace, as well as review the readiness of the authorities to protect the computerized systems—which are necessarily to hold a proper election process— from cyber attacks.
