Jaffa council head detained after record Arab election gains

Israeli security forces detained Abd Abu Shahadeh, a prominent Palestinian activist and journalist, at his Jaffa home on Tuesday around midnight. Officers transported him to an undisclosed location while roughly 15 masked personnel searched the residence. The team seized electronic devices and several books from the house.

Police stated that the Tel Aviv Central Unit and the Shin Bet are jointly handling the case. A court issued a publication ban on Wednesday, labeling the matter a security-related investigation. Abu Shahadeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, heads the elected Islamic Council in Jaffa and serves on the editorial board of the Arab48 news website.

The detention followed last week’s Knesset elections, where Palestinian-led parties secured 19 seats, their highest total in history. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc fell to 53 seats from 64 in 2022, failing to form a majority. The opposition also missed the threshold, creating a political deadlock. Likud claimed the vote was stolen through foreign interference, while the Central Elections Committee certified the results on Wednesday, citing no evidence of irregularities that affected the outcome.

On Tuesday, Shin Bet chief David Zini sought to question party leaders under caution, including Mahmoud Abbas of the United Arab List, Ahmed Tibi of Ta'al, and Sami Abu Shehadeh of Balad. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara blocked the request, arguing that citizens and elected officials require proper evidentiary grounds for questioning. The Shin Bet said on Wednesday that it gathered intelligence on widespread foreign funding intended to influence the vote, though security sources told Haaretz they were unfamiliar with claims of operations involving thousands of people or huge sums.

Sami Abu Shehadeh described the arrest as part of a campaign to undermine the results through the weaponization of police and intelligence agencies. He stated that Netanyahu lost the election because Arab citizens voted in massive numbers. Ben-Gvir, the National Security Minister, called on Zini to arrest all Palestinian party leaders and interrogate them in Shin Bet basement cells, asserting that the election was stolen in the State of Israel.