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Reporter Tom Bennett (Jerusalem)
Israel's main opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot and leaders of Arab political parties on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of what they allege was foreign interference in the general election.
On the 28th, Prime Minister Netanyahu's ruling Likud party accused Israel's Arab parties of "stealing" the election, which was held on the 27th. The internal security agency Shin Bet is investigating whether these parties received illegal funding from Qatar and Turkey.
Qatar's Foreign Ministry denied these "absurd and dangerous" claims and accused Israeli politicians of waging a disinformation campaign against Qatar.
Vote counting has ended in the election for the Israeli parliament (Knesset, which has 120 members), and it has become clear that neither Prime Minister Netanyahu's ruling party nor the Jewish opposition won a majority of seats.
According to the final results announced, Netanyahu's camp won 53 seats and Eisenkot's 48.
Meanwhile, the United Arab List (Ra'am) and the Joint List, a coalition of Arab parties, exceeded expectations and won a record 19 seats, thanks to a sharp turnout among Arab voters. It has become a force that holds the key to establishing a government.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced on the 29th that it had asked the Shin Bet security agency to investigate "serious suspicions" of foreign interference. In response, Likud claimed that voters had been "bribed" into voting for Arab parties.
Both Arab political coalitions strongly deny this claim.
Netanyahu's critics believe he is trying to make it politically impossible for Eisenkot to work with Arab parties by denying their legitimacy. As it stands, a coalition with Arab parties is the only path for Eisenkot's opposition to control.
Image provided by EPA
According to Israeli media, complaints have been brought to the Central Election Commission alleging that Qatar provided funds aimed at increasing turnout among the Arab community. Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs "categorically" denied the allegations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has characterized these allegations as a "political earthquake" and an "attack on democracy" aimed at overthrowing the right-wing government.
However, the Shin Bet later clarified that the investigation would not involve the entire legal voting community. Dean Rivne, acting director-general of the National Election Commission, also stated, ``Allegations of systematic violations of election integrity are groundless.''
"It's too early to tell what happened or whether anything happened at all," Eisenkot said after being briefed on the investigation, accusing Prime Minister Netanyahu of waging a "systematic and deliberate campaign to undermine the legitimacy of the election results."
Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the Joint List Balad party, denied Likud's claims, saying: "The losers are inventing racist blood slurs and calling on security services to use force to overturn the election results."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attacks on Arab voters and political parties have continued for several days. The prime minister spent much of election day posting on social media that the high turnout of Arab voters was an "emergency" and "a matter of life and death" for Israel's right. It also shared AI-generated images of Arab voters at polling stations to encourage right-wing supporters to vote.
Arab Israelis make up about one-fifth of Israel's population, and many refer to themselves as Palestinian-Israeli citizens.
These people have been boycotting Israeli elections for years. They have argued that voting would legitimize a system that treats them as second-class citizens. But Tuesday's turnout was driven by a strong desire to topple Prime Minister Netanyahu's most right-wing coalition in Israel's history.
The final outcome leaves only three possible options for forming a government. These include a government of national unity led by Netanyahu and Eisenkot's camps, a right-wing coalition government made up of Netanyahu's camp and defectors from Eisenkot's camp, and a government led by Eisenkot's camp with support from Arab parties.
Mr. Eisenkot and all but one of his allies have so far rejected forming a coalition government with Arab parties. However, in recent days there has been speculation that there is still a possibility of a deal being reached.
According to an emergency poll conducted by Hebrew University, the most popular option for voters of all parties in the opposition coalition was for Eisenkot to form a minority government with the United Arab List (Ra'am), with external support from the Joint List.
(English article: Israeli opposition accuses Netanyahu of trying to 'delegitimise' election)
