JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party on Thursday amplified unsubstantiated allegations that Arab-led parties “stole” elections, potentially with foreign aid, as final results Netanyahu’s bloc was expected to have lost its majority in parliament.
The opposition accused Netanyahu of demonizing the Arab population after a historic performance by Arab-led parties in an attempt to delegitimize the emerging election results. 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. The final results of the vote were expected Thursday evening.
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.”
Netanyahu’s opponents accuse him of harming the vote
Netanyahu’s main rival, former military leader Gadi Eisenkotsaid Likud was trying to delegitimize the results. “They are doing this because they lost,” he said.
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 the Arab parties.
The expected results are expected to show that Netanyahu’s bloc of religious and nationalist allies and his more secular and socially liberal opponents are failing to secure the parliamentary majority needed to form a new government. Arab parties would hold the remaining seats and 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 “discredit” 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. Israeli law requires election results to be certified by November 4.
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. Israeli Arabs of Palestinian origin make up 20% of the population but are often viewed with suspicion because of 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 sought to exercise its right to vote and take an active part in democracy.”
Tough decisions lie ahead as parties seek coalitions
Developments have amplified difficult decisions for the coming weeks. 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.
As the race for the 61-seat majority needed to control the 120-seat Knesset continues, Netanyahu remains in charge.
With almost all votes counted, Israeli media projects 53 parliamentary seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, 48 seats for Eisenkot’s bloc and 19 for Arab-led parties.
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 the 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 potentially 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.
Gn world
