Did crime families infiltrate the election system? The interior minister puts an end to the rumours

The elections for the local authorities started this morning (Tuesday) under the war and its restrictions. The Minister of the Interior, Moshe Arbel, spoke with Anat Davidov on 103FM and talked about the conduct of the election campaign in the various authorities.

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"To my great joy, so far, we are in a very good reality. The conduct is exemplary, one might say. Even in the authorities that have had challenges in the past of violent incidents, we see it at a low intensity. I paid a surprise visit to the cluster of polling stations in Kfar Qasim, and I really want to point out the leadership The local government is to be praised – for the ability to conduct debate, conduct controversy, and conduct elections. Parties by their nature are supposed to divide and express different opinions, and all with mutual respect. I am very, very happy about that. Of course there are extreme cases, but they are not the typical cases," he said at the beginning of his remarks.

"There are challenges, there are authorities that need to be dealt with, but they are isolated and handled by the General Security Service. From here to creating a trend or, God forbid, colorizing populations, the distance is a long distance. We should be proud of our democratic country for the democratic procedures in it. We should be happy for the right that we have the opportunity to choose our representatives. On this occasion, I call on the citizens of Israel to exercise this right, and go out to vote. In my opinion, the elections for local authorities affect our lives no less, and even more, than the Knesset elections," he added.

According to him, "I am in direct dialogue with the Shin Bet and the Israel Police. It's good that the elections are taking place. There are positions here and there in relation to very specific authorities, but after internal discussions that we did, some of them classified, even with the recommendation of the office's ombudsman, it was correct to hold the elections. I am happy that they are taking place, and of course we will continue and monitor, we will open control mechanisms, and God forbid we need to establish a committee Cora, we will know how to do it."

Later, he referred to the low turnout so far and estimated that it was mainly due to the weather. "Comfortable weather that makes people go to shopping malls or maybe to parks, or maybe some of them are satisfied with the existing situation and don't think it will change, or that it will have any effect at all. I want to say to the citizens of Israel – your vote has a great meaning, and there is an ability to change. Large percentages of votes indicate A lot of trust. We cannot forget that we are in the midst of a war. I acknowledge that as well, and I do not ignore it. We did a lot to encourage voting, and we are making an effort."

"The war scenario is not exaggerated, and we took it in advance as an option. Despite this, I still call on the citizens of Israel to show good citizenship and take part in this democratic holiday. I really find it a right and a duty from your important stage to call on the citizens of Israel – the polls will be open until 10:00 p.m. and in the small settlements until 8:00 p.m. :00 Take advantage of the remaining hours, go vote," he noted.

Finally, we were asked why the final results would only be on Friday, and he said that the reason for this is that the possibility of voting in the IDF opened a week ago, and in order for true results to be obtained, it is important to maintain maximum accuracy. We made sure that the second round would be on March 10th, so that it would not conflict with Ramadan. To this too – to give the answer the signal of service. We have to be stretched to the limit for the sake of service and we do it with great joy. In these elections there are more double envelopes. We opened the possibility of voting in the IDF about a week ago already, so that we can give maximum accuracy. We prefer to count, to be precise, to cross. It extends over several days, and until we make sure that there are no double votes that will affect the results of the elections, we prefer to wait and give true results," he said.

Assisted in the preparation of the article: Eden Ben Ari, 103FM