At Tel Aviv University's Cyber Week, the State Comptroller warned: "We have found significant defects in Israel's readiness to deal with foreign influences in the 2026 elections. The government and the Central Elections Committee must pull it together and improve their readiness"
Today (9.12.25), the State Comptroller and Ombudsman, Matanyahu Englman, gave a speech at Tel Aviv University's Cyber Week and spoke about the dangers lurking from foreign influences in the 2026 elections, in particular in view of the rising number of cyber threats from Iran and the cases of Iranian espionage frequently exposed in Israel.
According to him, "We must acknowledge that foreign influences may emerge and influence our democratic process. The State of Israel is entering an election year. During an election year, the threat intensifies and may jeopardize the democratic process – creating chaos on elections day, undermining public trust in the elections system, influencing the voters and distorting the election results, eroding the citizens' trust in the vote count and results, deepening the social division and more.
Comptroller Englman: "Election integrity is at risk"
"Accordingly, we are at the height of the audit work on the government's conduct in the face of foreign influence in the digital sphere. We can already say that the findings indicate significant defects.
The government bodies and the Central Elections Committee must pull it together and improve their readiness for preventing foreign influence on the elections which are expected to be held in Israel next year".
