Doctor released without conditions after election-day arrest in Ra'am probe

Saef Abu Raesh regained his freedom without conditions after a court ordered his release on Monday. The Bedouin doctor had been detained on election day in connection with a vote-buying operation alleged to benefit the Ra’am party. His release followed a period of custody during which he accused investigators of political persecution and a lack of supporting documentation.

Abu Raesh operates a small clinic in Rahat, a town in the south where he organized efforts to encourage local residents to vote. During his questioning, investigators asked which party he urged people to support. They also asked if he understood that his activities could influence who would lead the country. He stated that investigators showed him no evidence supporting the allegations against him.

The doctor described a specific exchange during a transfer between police stations that solidified his belief the case was politically motivated. An officer asked why Arabs were unhappy with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. The officer claimed Ben Gvir had done "only good" for them by providing law and order. Abu Raesh noted that Ben Gvir’s tenure has seen a sharp increase in the demolition of unpermitted Bedouin homes and a roughly twofold rise in annual homicides across Arab society.

Police arrested Abu Raesh at dawn on election day. He said officers knocked on his door while his pregnant wife and young daughters slept. He described being taken to a police station in handcuffs as a humiliating experience. He also claimed he never cast a ballot, despite being told officers would take him to vote. An officer at the Dimona station later questioned why he was raising the matter only then.

Abu Raesh was one of three people detained on election day. One of the other suspects was released to house arrest, while the third remained in custody. Four additional individuals were arrested later. Three of those four were placed under house arrest, and the fourth had restrictions removed after an appeal by his lawyer. Abu Raesh’s attorney, Ali Abu Laban, told Army Radio that his client was not a Ra’am activist. The lawyer stated the doctor had encouraged voting to improve conditions in Arab society and challenged the initial detention extension because police found neither money nor envelopes at the doctor’s home.

The investigation has become part of a dispute over an election in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition lost its majority. Netanyahu described the three election-day suspects as senior Ra’am financial operatives who tried to steal the election. He has used the allegations and a separate investigation into suspected foreign interference involving Qatar to challenge the results. Officials have maintained the results are valid and that both investigations are limited in scope. On Sunday, Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg said the election had been conducted properly. He appeared in a video with Shin Bet chief David Zini, acting director-general Dean Livne, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Likud subsequently questioned how Sohlberg could call the foreign interference allegations serious while concluding they had not affected the outcome before the investigation ended.