Bereaved families demand Shin Bet probe of Ra'am election app

The Choosing Life Forum, a group representing families affected by terrorism, has filed a formal complaint with Shin Bet chief David Zini. The group seeks a criminal investigation into an application it says senior Ra'am activists used to track voter behavior during the October 27 election.

According to the complaint, the app, named Aswatcom, allowed users to monitor participation at specific polling stations in real time. The forum argues this capability enabled the party to manage its election-day operations with granular data on voter turnout.

The group states the application was created on September 15, roughly six weeks before the vote. It recorded more than 500 downloads on the Google Play store prior to election day.

The forum claims developers based in Ramallah with ties to the Palestinian Authority helped build the system. This connection raised concerns that the developers could have accessed information about Israeli voters through the platform.

In its request, the forum asked Zini to seize the app's servers, databases, and activity logs. It also demanded an investigation into the entities that commissioned and funded the tool, as well as the specific activists who used it on election day.

The group further requested a review of whether Ra'am staff operated the system from inside polling stations and where the collected data was sent. The forum stated that the Israeli public is entitled to know its elections are conducted lawfully, without prohibited surveillance systems or the improper involvement of foreign entities.