Netanyahu Alleges Election Fraud by Arab Parties in Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Thursday that some of the record successes achieved by Arab parties in this week's elections stemmed from voter fraud. This claim, presented without any evidence, was rejected by Arab leaders and election officials.

Following the national elections held in Israel on Tuesday, nearly 99 percent of the votes have been counted. Netanyahu's nationalist-religious bloc leads by a narrow margin in terms of seats compared to the center-left and right-wing bloc led by his rival Gadi Eisenkot, while neither coalition has reached the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority. While Arab parties, representing 21 percent of the country's population, are projected to win 19 seats for the first time in history, this situation prevents the Eisenkot bloc from coming to power without Arab support.

Ahmad Tibi, one of the leaders of the Arab Joint List, said that Netanyahu launched a toxic campaign aimed at undermining the election results. The Likud Party requested an investigation into allegations of bribery and intimidation at ballot boxes in Arab towns. Supreme Court Justice and Central Election Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg applied to the Shin Bet to investigate attempts by foreign actors to interfere in the election, while Qatar denied the allegations.

The Central Election Committee stated that there is no basis for allegations of systemic damage to the integrity of the elections. It noted that the Shin Bet investigation focuses only on the individuals involved and should not target the entire voting population. President Isaac Herzog stated that the allegations must be investigated, but an entire community that exercised its right to vote should not be tainted during this process.