SO IN ISRAEL'S ELECTION, WHO ARE THE RUSSIANS FOR?

Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman made front page headlines by saying at a Tel Aviv University conference that a foreign country is trying to influence Israel's upcoming elections through its cyber capabilities.

The military censor forbade publicizing the name of the country, which Argaman said out loud in his speech on Monday. Nevertheless, most assumed that the country in question was Russia, even though the Kremlin issued a denial on Wednesday.

Why Russia? What interest does Moscow have in tipping these elections? And on behalf of whom?

Why, for instance, couldn't Iran be the suspected country, or even a European country – say France or Germany – who would love to see a center-left government in power to advance what they believe is the proper pathway to peace?

First of all, said Eran Lerman, vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies and former deputy head at the National Security Council, nobody should fall off their chair at the thought of a foreign country trying to influence another country's elections.

It happens all the time.