JERUSALEM (JTA) — The head of the Israel Security Agency said an unnamed foreign state “intends to intervene” in Israel’s national elections.
Russia said a couple of days later that it’s not the state.
The head of the ISA, Nadav Argaman, said Monday that the meddling in the April 9 vote will come through cyberattacks and hackers, Hadashot News reported Tuesday. Argaman said he could not name the suspected country and that “I know what I’m talking about, I just don’t know in whose favor.”
He told the news channel that the Israel Security Agency, also known as the Shin Bet, had concrete information pointing to a specific country preparing a specific attack.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a statement Wednesday that Moscow “did not intervene, does not intervene and does not intend to intervene in elections in any country in the world.”
The Central Elections Committee told Hadashot News on Wednesday that it is working with the security officials to formulate a plan of action so that the elections will “reflect the voters’ will.” The statement said that “the committee is aware that social networks can be used improperly to influence the electorate.”
Israel still uses paper ballots.
A Pew study released Wednesday found that 62 percent of Israelis found it very likely or somewhat likely that elections in their country are being tampered with.
The United States is investigating alleged Russia meddling in its 2016 presidential election.
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