Fraud claim escalates anti-Arab rhetoric
On Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu claimed — offering no proof — that part of the reason Arab parties made historic gains in this week's vote was voter fraud. Arab leaders dismissed the accusation and said the prime minister was inciting against them. The charge deepened the hostile rhetoric from Netanyahu and his far-right partners after heavy Arab participation in Tuesday's national election effectively denied a clear route to power to both him and his leading Jewish opponents.[S1][S2][S3]
Israeli election authorities said Thursday that fraud claims were being investigated, while making clear the vote had not been compromised in a systematic way. With about 93% of ballots tallied, Netanyahu's nationalist-religious alliance held a small edge in seats over a grouping of right-wing and centre-left parties under Gadi Eisenkot. Neither side had reached the 61-seat threshold needed for a parliamentary majority.[S1]
Arab parties, representing a minority that makes up 21% of Israel's population, were forecast to take an unprecedented 19 seats. That left Eisenkot's bloc on 48 seats, behind Netanyahu's 53, with no practical path to governing unless it won wide Arab support — something Eisenkot has ruled out so far. Another option would be a minority government propped up from outside by Arab parties without giving them cabinet posts.[S1]
Arab leaders reject charges as incitement
Ahmad Tibi, a leader of the Arab Joint List, described Netanyahu's actions as a deliberate and poisonous campaign meant to cast doubt on the election outcome. In comments to Reuters, Tibi said the push was directed at Eisenkot — to stop him, frighten him and deter him from building a government that depends on outside backing from the Joint List or Ra'am.[S1]
Throughout Tuesday's vote and afterward, Netanyahu and his allies raised alarms about growing Arab participation, and his right-wing Likud party put out statements claiming Arab parties were stealing votes. Likud called on police and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency to look into suspected bribery and intimidation at polling places in Arab communities. The party said it possessed proof of such conduct but has not made it public.[S1]
Police report that since Tuesday they have detained at least seven people in southern Israel, home to many Arab citizens, on suspicion of election fraud. Public broadcaster Kan said the suspects were accused of offering bribes to voters to support Ra'am, an Arab-dominated party with Islamist roots. Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas denied any involvement by his party and called for a thorough probe, saying Netanyahu was running an incitement drive against Israel's Arab citizens.[S1]
Foreign interference claim and presidential role
On Thursday, Noam Sohlberg, a Supreme Court justice who heads Israel's Central Election Committee, said he had asked the Shin Bet to examine suspicions that unidentified foreign actors sought to meddle in the election. Likud pounced on the request, calling it an assault on Israeli democracy and an attempt to bring down the right-wing camp. The party blamed Qatar for the alleged meddling, a claim Qatar later rejected.[S1]
In a letter to a lawmaker that the Central Election Committee made public, the committee said claims of systematic damage to the election's integrity had no foundation. After the count is finished, President Isaac Herzog will meet party leaders and pick the candidate he judges most likely to assemble a government. The coalition that ousted Netanyahu in 2021 included Abbas's Ra'am party.[S1]
Eisenkot urged an inquiry that would safeguard the integrity of the vote but said Netanyahu was using the suspicions to sow disorder. In a statement, he said Netanyahu's objective was to dispute the official results, in which voters turned against the government. Herzog said the allegations warranted investigation, but stressed that even now a whole community that exercised its right to vote and take part in democracy must not be smeared.[S1]
