Police Commissioner Danny Levy pledged Sunday that police would protect voters and act impartially against attempts to disrupt the election, after meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following a legal challenge over political involvement in police election preparations.
In a public statement two days before Tuesday’s Knesset election, Levy said police had completed months of preparations to safeguard voting.
Police said those preparations included responding to terrorist threats in cooperation with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and maintaining public order when the results become known and in the days afterward.
CEC stresses Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir have no authority to direct police on election integrity
“We will not allow violence, threats, incitement or criminal activity to undermine the will of the voters,” Levy said. “Safeguarding Israeli democracy is our mission. We will fulfill it without bias and without compromise.”
Earlier Sunday, Central Elections Committee chairman Noam Sohlberg rejected a petition to block the discussion with Netanyahu, while stressing that Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have no authority to direct police on election integrity or preparations.
The decision followed Netanyahu’s assurance that the planned discussion was a telephone briefing on security threats, rather than election integrity as earlier reports had described it. The meeting subsequently took place in person.
Levy attended with the heads of the police’s Operations Directorate and Intelligence Division. During the meeting, he told Netanyahu that police would safeguard Israeli democracy and were prepared to respond to terrorist incidents and maintain public order.
Sohlberg said the prime minister and national security minister could meet with the commissioner about general public-order issues and ask him to present police preparations. But responsibility for administering the election and safeguarding its integrity rests with the Central Elections Committee and its chairman, he noted.
The petition was brought by the organization Bochrim BeYisrael, separately from Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party’s appeal earlier Sunday to Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and Sohlberg to stop the meeting.
The organization argued that the meeting would violate prohibitions on interfering with elections and using public resources for election campaigning. Sohlberg found insufficient evidence that holding the discussion would itself constitute election interference.
He nevertheless recorded Netanyahu’s assurance that the call would not address election preparations or election integrity, and said all those involved were expected to take particular care not to exceed their authority on election matters.
Netanyahu argues call concerns 'routine security preparations'
Bochrim BeYisrael subsequently asked Sohlberg to reconsider, citing a clarification submitted on Netanyahu’s behalf that the meeting would take place in person. It argued that this changed a premise underlying the decision and heightened concerns about election campaigning.
The organization sought an immediate order blocking the meeting or, alternatively, a requirement that it take place under Sohlberg’s oversight with all party leaders invited. It also asked that Levy provide a full account of its contents if it had already occurred.
In the initial response submitted on Netanyahu’s behalf by attorney Ilan Bombach, the prime minister argued that the briefing concerned security preparations against what the filing described as serious warnings of terrorist attempts to disrupt the election or influence its conduct.
The response said Netanyahu had held a security assessment on Thursday with the IDF chief of staff and the heads of the Shin Bet and Mossad. Levy had not attended, it said, and the briefing was intended to obtain an update on police preparations.
Baharav-Miara, whose position was summarized in Sohlberg’s decision, said police act in coordination with and under the direction of the elections committee chairman on election administration and public order during voting. Political leaders and candidates should not intervene in those matters, she said.
Sohlberg noted that he and the committee’s acting director-general were due to meet Levy that evening to discuss police preparations and issue instructions as needed.
Yashar had warned that Netanyahu’s meeting could undermine public confidence in the results, accusing him of potentially seeking to pressure public servants to advance his political interests.
Ben-Gvir’s office defended the meeting as routine practice followed by previous ministers. Citing the state commission of inquiry into the Meron disaster, it argued that the minister had a duty to question police preparations, identify gaps, and prevent loss of life.