Netanyahu's Likud ramps up claims Arab parties 'stole' Israel's election as the final count leaves his bloc eight seats short
Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud party has filed witness statements and physical evidence with Israeli police alleging cash-filled envelopes containing Ra'am ballots were distributed to manipulate the vote.
Likud has filed hundreds of witness statements with police, Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee, alleging that cash-stuffed envelopes accompanied Ra'am ballot slips, that some voters cast ballots under more than one identity, and that banned software was deployed to boost Arab turnout. Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the CEC, acknowledged "serious suspicions" of foreign interference but told Shin Bet he was unable to confirm the allegations. Israel's Arab parties won a historic 19 seats — 12 for the Joint List and seven for Ra'am — leaving them with potential kingmaker status, with Netanyahu's bloc standing at 53 seats and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot's bloc at 48.
The CEC's own acting director general, Dean Livne, said there is "no basis for allegations of election theft."
Qatar's foreign ministry called the foreign-funding claims "ridiculous and dangerous" and accused Israeli politicians of running a disinformation campaign against Doha.
Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of a "coordinated, organised campaign seeking to delegitimise the results," while Israel's president rebuked Netanyahu for "tarnishing an entire community."
