In his press conference on Tuesday 16 Adar 5773, Bayit HaYehudi leader Naftali Bennett explained “unfortunately we are not immune” in addressing allegations of voter fraud in his party’s primary election race. Bennett has also been addressing the ongoing police investigation on his Facebook page.

The news of possible voter fraud involving veteran NRP MK Nissim Slomiansky seems to be snowballing, and Bayit Yehudi is in the midst of the election fraud storm. Bennett has admitted that during the primary election period he had suspicions of inappropriate activities, which led him to hire a private investigator. He adds that the issues were addressed and correct, and in his effort to exhibit an air of transparency, he added that “thousands of voter ballots were tossed” to make sure any ballot that was questionable was not counted.

Police seem to feel there is sufficient evidence to push the case against Slomiansky, who continues to maintain his innocence, expressing his commitment to cooperate with police in any way possible, confident of his innocence. Nevertheless, what has so many people baffled is the fact that Slomiansky, who presents the old guard National Religious Party was not only successful in landing a realistic slot on the party ticket, but he came in first place against many of the more popular newer generation MKs.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)