Yashar calls to halt PM Netanyahu’s meeting with police chief — Jerusalem Post

In Israel, the Yashar party, led by Gadi Eisenkot, appealed to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Central Election Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg, asking them to halt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Police Commissioner Danny Levy. The meeting on election integrity was scheduled for Sunday, two days before the Knesset elections, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Yashar party’s appeal

Reports said that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was also expected to take part in the meeting, but representatives of the Central Election Committee were not invited.

Yashar stated that Netanyahu is a candidate in the election, is not responsible for overseeing the integrity of the vote, and has no authority over the police commissioner on this matter. The party expressed concern that such a meeting could create an unfounded impression of possible violations of election integrity and undermine confidence in the results in advance.

The party also suggested that the prime minister may be trying to pressure public officials to advance political interests. This claim is Yashar’s position.

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Position of the prime minister’s office and the police

Netanyahu’s office rejected suggestions that the planned conversation was unusual. It told Ynet News that similar discussions are held before every election.

As the Jerusalem Post notes, Levy had previously declined to participate in a similar discussion convened by Ben-Gvir. About a week and a half earlier, the commissioner had already held a meeting with the acting director general of the Central Election Committee, Din Livne, regarding preparations for voting day.

The meeting discussed maintaining public order, ensuring the safe conduct of voting, and police preparations for various scenarios. Levy also instructed police officers not to express political views while on duty and warned that violators would not be able to continue serving in the police force.