Channel 14: Shin Bet Changes Katz's Voting Location for Security Reasons

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz cast his vote in the 26th Knesset elections at a polling station in Moshav Ynon, rather than the center near his residence in Moshav Kfar Ahim, at the request of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) for security reasons.

Hebrew Channel 14 reported that the Ministry of Defense directed Katz, who holds the sixth position on the Likud party list, to vote in Moshav Ynon in response to the Shin Bet's request to change his voting location due to security concerns.

In the ongoing elections, Netanyahu faces fierce and open competition for right-wing votes from within his coalition; his prominent ally Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the "Jewish Power" party, accused him of leading a systematic "coup" campaign to drop his party below the electoral threshold, as part of a secret commitment made by Likud to European countries to exclude him from the next government.

The crisis regarding the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim) represents a ticking time bomb within the right-wing coalition; Netanyahu is under significant pressure from Haredi parties such as Shas and United Torah Judaism, who reject laws imposing mandatory military service on yeshiva students.

The dispute between Netanyahu and the Haredi parties over the conscription law has turned the advantage of concentrated voting among supporters of these parties for the right-wing bloc into a major risk, with indicators showing declining voter turnout among them.

Netanyahu also faces a "rebellion" from the right-wing "Our Israel Home" party led by Ofir Winter, who refused to withdraw from the election race despite polls indicating he would not pass the electoral threshold; this threatens to waste thousands of right-wing voters' ballots.