French Consulate Employee Caught Smuggling Votes To Meretz

Operatives arranged for votes from Palestinian-controlled areas, where they are not being used, to be smuggled into Israel.

Jerusalem, March 19 – A volunteer with the consulate of France in Israel’s capital was arrested today and charged with smuggling votes to a political party desperate to head off disappearance from the Knesset in the next elections.

Romain Franck, 23, a French national serving as a driver for consular staff, was taken into custody Monday morning after a police investigation showed him handling the contraband. A spokesman for the French consulate confirmed the arrest and stated they cooperated with the police on the investigation.

Meretz, which currently holds five seats in the parliament, has suffered consistent electoral frustration over the last several contests in 2009, 2012, and 2015, falling far short of its 12-seat representation in the late 1990’s and early part of last decade. Widespread disillusionment with the party’s hard-left stances following the disastrous long-term outcome of the Oslo Accords have kept it perilously close to elimination. While the threat of early elections was removed last week as warring coalition parties walked back their threats to bolt the government, Meretz faces a bleak outcome whether the next elections take place in late 2019 as scheduled or earlier. Under current electoral threshold rules, a party must earn at least 3.25% of the vote, which translates to about four parliamentary seats, if it is to appear in the Knesset. Surveys see the party garnering at best retaining its five-seat delegation, with some polls finding it falling below the representation threshold.

To forestall this nightmare scenario, allege police, party operatives arranged for votes from Palestinian-controlled areas, where they are not being used, to be smuggled into Israel. According to police, Mr. Franck made numerous trips into the Gaza Strip and Areas A and B of Judea end Samaria, with the consular vehicle he operated, exploiting his diplomatic immunity to avoid inspection and detection of the illegal cargo. Police claim they were able to document more than six hundred votes that Franck then sold to dealers hired by Meretz to procure the votes.

Party officials denied involvement. “We are a democratic party and would never resort to such machinations,” declared MK Ilan Gilon. “If any Meretz personnel were involved – and that has not been proven in a court of law – we disassociate ourselves with such illegitimate methods.”

“In fact it is the corrupt administration of Bibi Netanyahu who is ultimately to blame for this phenomenon,” insisted activist Avi Dabush. “He has normalized corruption and made it legitimate, even necessary, to subvert democracy so the right people get elected, no matter what the ignorant majority thinks.”

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