Netanyahu Claims Arab Voters Stole Israel's Election After His Bloc Loses Its Majority
Final results show the far-right bloc fell from 68 seats to 53 as Arab-majority parties won a record 19. Likud says the vote was stolen; the elections committee says there is no basis for that.
TEL AVIV — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party alleged Thursday that Israel's election earlier in the week was stolen by Arab-majority parties, helped by foreign funding that amounted to vote-buying, as final results showed Netanyahu's bloc has lost its majority in the Knesset, Israel's parliament.
The final count shows the far-right bloc's share of Knesset seats fell from 68 to 53. Israel's Arab-majority parties had their highest turnout ever in Tuesday's election and won an unprecedented 19 of the Knesset's 120 seats. Their success is one of the main reasons Netanyahu's bloc cannot now form a new government. Israel's Arab minority, also called Palestinian citizens of Israel, makes up about 20% of the country's population.
"Israel's elections have been stolen," Likud declared in a statement Thursday, claiming "an attack on democracy aimed at leading to a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamization of Israel, and the overthrow of the right-wing government to cause a withdrawal and defeat of the IDF on all fronts — first and foremost, Iran."
Israeli officials pushed back quickly. The Acting Director-General of the Central Elections Committee, Din Livne, said in a letter to a committee member on Thursday that "there is no basis to the claims regarding a systematic compromise of the integrity of the elections." The Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, said it had opened an investigation into possible foreign influence in the election, but the scope of that probe has not been made clear. The agency added that an investigation of this type is "focused and bounded, and does not cast aspersions or place blame on an entire sector that went out to vote democratically and legally."
Israeli media reports said one of the allegations the Shin Bet would consider is whether Qatar sent money to Arab parties to increase turnout among Arab Israeli voters. Qatar rejected that. "We categorically deny allegations that Qatar has interfered in Israeli elections or funded any activities intended to influence their outcome," ministry spokesperson Majid Al-Ansari said. "Qatar should not be used as a scapegoat for the political failures of certain Israeli politicians."
The arithmetic now favors Netanyahu's opponents, though not cleanly. The four parties that make up the main bloc opposing him won 48 seats, so they would need some support from the Arab parties to form a coalition, assuming none of the lawmakers currently aligned with Netanyahu defect. The heads of Israel's two biggest Arab parties, which together won 19 seats, have said they are willing to help the main opposition bloc oust Netanyahu. But most of the Jewish-led parties that oppose him vowed before the election not to rely on Arab party support, leaving open whether they will now change course.
Gadi Eisenkot, head of the centrist Yashar party and the top candidate to replace Netanyahu, said he is worried the stolen-election claim could be used to delay or disqualify the results. He accused Netanyahu and his partners of leading "an improper influence operation on the Israeli public aimed at delaying the publication of the election results on time." Once the new Knesset is sworn in, even without a government decided, Eisenkot's bloc together with the Arab parties could begin passing laws because they would control a majority in parliament.
Vote counting is officially complete, but the results must still be certified and sent to President Isaac Herzog before the new parliament can be sworn in and coalition talks formally begin. Netanyahu, whom President Trump endorsed enthusiastically, will remain in office as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed. If the parties cannot assemble a coalition, Israel would have to hold another election, and Netanyahu would stay on as prime minister in the interim.
