Although senior members of Balad, part of the predominantly Arab Joint List, knew the police were conducting an investigation on the suspicion that funds were being illegally funneled to them, they were astonished by the raid on the movement’s offices and the arrest of senior members Sept. 18.

The investigation began after the state comptroller, who probes violations of the Party Funding Law, received certain information. The material collected was given to the police before the comptroller’s report was disseminated. (Usually, the police begin an investigation after the comptroller publishes a report.) The police undercover investigation raised suspicions that senior Balad members had received millions of shekels from various organizations in Arab states, mainly Qatar. Azmi Bishara, a former Knesset member and Balad founder, now resides in Qatar. Bishara fled Israel in 2007 after he was suspected of funneling classified information to Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War, in 2006.

The police released a statement asserting that Balad Secretary-General Awad Abd al-Fattah, along with another 20 or so senior party activists, including six lawyers, were suspected of involvement in a secret conduit for illegal money transfers. They are believed to have run a sophisticated operation to cover the money trail by misrepresenting the funds as being contributions from donors in Israel.

During the police investigation, which was conducted secretly over a number of months, it emerged that about a thousand families whose names are listed on the movement’s documents as ostensibly having contributed funds to Balad never did so. These people had no idea that their names were linked to the movement’s activities and funding. The police claim that this is how the illegal funds were laundered.