Knesset member Tali Gotliv of Otzma Yehudit addressed the ballot jihad scandal and suspected Qatari involvement in Israel’s elections today (Sunday) in an interview on the “Midday Journal” program with Ido Tauber, claiming the incident is serious enough to require investigation by security services, not just police.
“We are under a mega-attack by Qatar in Israel. A mega-attack,” Gotliev declared at the start of her remarks, adding: “And this is an attack that police are incapable of investigating—they don’t have the tools to investigate.” According to her, the investigation should be conducted by the Shin Bet and Mossad, using the authorities and resources at their disposal.
1+Gotliev claimed there’s an attempt to minimize the severity of the suspicions by presenting them as offenses involving small amounts of money and fuel cards. “Someone is trying to bring us down, telling us ‘ah, these are small amounts, these are fuel cards, these are struggling families’—they’re working you right in front of your eyes!” she said.
When asked if this means the elections weren’t legitimate, Gotliev clarified: “I’m not saying the elections weren’t legitimate, I’m not saying that.” However, she emphasized that in her view there are significant suspicions of foreign involvement: “There were suspicions and there are clear suspicions, based on foundations—not some unsolidified intelligence information, based on very, very organized information.”
The lawmaker later addressed the process of publishing final election results and explained that the law requires their publication within eight days, with no option to extend the deadline. According to her, after the results are published, one can appeal to the District Court for Administrative Affairs as part of an election appeal, which could also lead to a decision on new elections.
“Does this only bother Otzma Yehudit? Are we the only ones who think we’re under a mega-attack that they’re trying to sweep under the rug?” Gotliv wondered.
1+Later in the interview she also addressed possible contacts to form a government, calling on Bennett and Liberman to align with right-wing principles. Gotliv said she reached out to Liberman and asked to meet with him, emphasizing that for her, the test for forming a government isn’t defining it as a broad national government, but rather its commitment to right-wing policy.
“This isn’t a political mess, we’re in an existential mess, God Almighty!” she said, adding that Otzma Yehudit views the election results as a significant achievement and aspires to become a governing party in the future.