JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party on Thursday amplified unsubstantiated allegations that Arab-led parties “stole” the election, potentially with foreign help, as final results showed his bloc lost its majority in parliament.
The opposition accused Netanyahu of demonizing the Arab population after a historic display by Arab-led parties in an attempt to delegitimize the elections. If the rest of the opposition joins forces with Arab parties, which is rare and politically risky, they could potentially form a majority government in the parliament, the Knesset.
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Results released Thursday by election officials showed Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats in the 120-member Assembly, well below the 68 seats it controlled at its peak in the previous parliament. Its main opposition won 48 seats and Arab parties won the other 19.
The counting has been completed, but the results must still be certified and submitted to the country’s president next Wednesday.
Commission to investigate possible foreign interference
Netanyahu’s Likud party has spread allegations of malfeasance by Arab-led parties since exit polls indicated the prime minister suffered a setback in Tuesday’s vote. But the rhetoric intensified after the head of Israel’s election committee, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, said “serious suspicions” of foreign interference had been brought to his attention.
In a letter to the Shin Bet security agency, Sohlberg said he could not verify the claims. But given their seriousness, he asked the agency to investigate.
Netanyahu’s party responded with an incendiary statement: “Israel’s elections were stolen!” ” he said, claiming – without evidence – that the alleged election interference “aimed to facilitate a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamization of Israel and the overthrow of the right-wing government.”
Israeli media reported that members of Netanyahu’s party were blaming Qatar – a country many Israelis view as a patron of Hamas, the Gaza-based militant group.
Qatar quickly denied the allegations, calling the allegations “ridiculous and dangerous.”
Announcing its results Friday morning, the election commission said the investigation was based on classified intelligence. In a video statement, the commission’s acting chief executive, Dean Livne, did not provide details but warned that reports of the investigation were “totally unfounded.”
“This does not affect the final results that will be submitted to the president, nor does it concern a particular sector of the population,” he said.
Netanyahu’s opponents accuse him of harming the vote
Netanyahu’s main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, said Likud was trying to delegitimize the results. “They are doing this because they lost,” he said.
Eisenkot ridiculed the accusation of foreign interference with a tongue-in-cheek statement, saying: “I welcome the fact that Netanyahu is finally condemning Qatar’s involvement in the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu has long faced accusations that former top aides to his party accepted money from Qatar.
By casting doubt on the vote, Netanyahu appears to be positioning himself to block any potential alliance between his adversaries and Arab parties. Netanyahu suggested that it would be a betrayal for Eisenkot to join forces with Arab parties, which could potentially give Eisenkot the support he needs to oust Netanyahu.
The Shin Bet, seeking to ease tensions, said its investigation was not intended to “cast slander” on an entire section of the population who “exercised their right to vote in a democratic and legal manner.”
The electoral commission also issued a warning in a letter written to a concerned MP. He said that while an investigation was underway, “allegations of systematic violations of election integrity are baseless.”
The commission wants to obtain the conclusions of the Shin Bet within a week.
Netanyahu campaigned on anti-Arab sentiment
Even before the vote, Netanyahu and Likud portrayed Arab parties as a danger to Israel, which critics called an attempt to further marginalize Arab citizens. Arab citizens of Palestinian origin make up 20% of the population but are often viewed with suspicion due to their sympathy for other Palestinians.
These election attacks, along with anger over Netanyahu and his divisive far-right government, have brought outraged Arabs to the polls like never before.
On Thursday, Yair Golan, head of the Democratic Party, accused Netanyahu of “attempting to undermine the election results through a nasty delegitimization campaign directed against the will of the public – and against the Arab public in particular.”
“Netanyahu is working to steal the elections,” the Joint List said Thursday.
Arab Raam party leader Mansour Abbas welcomed the investigation into election interference and said his party had nothing to do with the matter, while accusing Netanyahu of an incitement campaign.
President Isaac Herzog called it a “sensitive moment” and called for a thorough investigation. He warned that “we must not tarnish an entire community that has sought to exercise its right to vote and take an active part in democracy.”
Tough decisions lie ahead as parties seek coalitions
These events have amplified the difficult decisions to be made in the weeks to come. These include whether some Jewish and Arab parties would join forces in a historic alliance, or whether some parties that campaigned to oust Netanyahu would put that aside and join forces with him.
WATCH: What’s next for Israel after elections produce political deadlock
As the race for the 61-seat majority needed to control the 120-seat Knesset continues, Netanyahu remains in charge.
If Netanyahu were to lose office, it would set off a cascade of events that critics say he has been desperate to avoid. Several years of corruption allegations would be taken into account, and an investigation would almost certainly be launched into the security failures that led to the devastating attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Eisenkot leaves door open to cooperation with Arab parties
Even without playing a role in a coalition, Arab-led parties could assert their growing power by supporting other Netanyahu opponents in the next parliament. This could include electing a new president, giving him control of the agenda and possibly allowing him to advance and pass laws before a new government is formed.
Eisenkot said he was open, under certain conditions, to joining forces with Arab-led parties. Ahmad Tibi, second on the Joint List, told Army Radio that the opposition bloc had contacted him to discuss replacing the Knesset speaker, and he told them the party would support the bloc’s candidate.
Small rallies took place overnight in Tel Aviv and the much more conservative Jerusalem in support of a coalition including Arab-led parties. Until 2021, no Arab party had joined a coalition government, and it was brief.
If a new government cannot be formed after several attempts, Israel will face new elections early next year. On Wednesday, Herzog indicated that he wanted to avoid this step – something Eisenkot also said.
New elections raise new questions, including whether Arab citizens will turn out to vote in large numbers and whether the tens of thousands of Israelis who returned home to vote will do so again. Many said they took this step to save the country from Netanyahu.
Saeed reported from Abu Snan, Israel. Associated Press journalists across Israel contributed.
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