Russia denies meddling in Israel's elections

MOSCOW: Russia on Wednesday denied accusations that it is intervening in the Israeli elections, distancing itself from suspicions raised by the head of Israel's Shin Bet security agency who said earlier in the week that a foreign nation was planning to meddle with the vote.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "that Moscow does not intend to interfere with elections in any country in the world.

It is out of the question, Russia has never interfered in elections in any country and has no plans to do it in the future, Peskov expressed a recommendation to not read the Israeli media [reports], Russia's Tass News Agency reported.

Earlier this week, Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman said " The Israel Security Agency wishes to clarify that the State of Israel and the intelligence community have the tools and capabilities to locate, monitor and thwart foreign influence efforts, if there are any.

"I can't say at this point for whom or against whom the intervention will be, but it involves cyber[attacks] and hacking," Argaman quoted.

On December 26, 2018, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed a bill to dissolve the parliament and called an early parliamentary election for April 2.

Benjamin Netanyahu's government will continue to operate until a new cabinet is formed in late April after the vote.

On December 24, heads of Israel's governing coalition parties decided that the Knesset be dissolved and an early parliamentary election be held.

Disagreements over the draft of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the army were the reason behind the decision.

The next Israeli parliamentary election was initially planned to take place in November 2019.

The issue of foreign meddling in elections attracted attention following the 2016 US presidential campaign, during which, the American intelligence community has said, Russia interfered on behalf of Donald Trump.