Opposition accuses Netanyahu of undermining election results as coalition loses majority

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of using malicious efforts to remain in power following his claim that Arab Israeli parties used foreign backing to “steal” Tuesday’s election. This follows the prime minister’s coalition losing its parliamentary majority.

Netanyahu, along with his allies, called on the internal security service, Shin Bet, to probe into alleged vote buying and other discrepancies in Palestinian communities in Israel, supposedly funded by foreign groups. However, the leader of the main opposition bloc, Gadi Eisenkot, accused Netanyahu and his Likud party of attempting to derail the election results.

“It’s already clear that Likud and Netanyahu have embarked on a coordinated, organised campaign seeking to delegitimise the results of the election,” Eisenkot claimed in a video message.

Israel’s president criticises Netanyahu

Government officials, including police and members of the election committee, moved swiftly to distance themselves from the prime minister’s claims. Israel’s president also criticised Netanyahu directly, saying his remarks had “tarnished an entire community.”

On Wednesday late evening, Netanyahu shared a Likud statement online that characterised the alleged violations as “an attack on democracy whose purpose is to lead to a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamisation of Israel, and the overthrow of right-wing rule”.

Tuesday’s elections left Netanyahu’s far-right coalition without a parliamentary majority after four years in government. But the main Jewish-led opposition bloc also fell short of a majority, handing decisive power to two Arab Israeli parties, the Joint List and Ra’am.

When final results were confirmed early Friday local time, Netanyahu’s bloc had secured 53 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, while the rival bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot took 48. The remaining 19 seats went to the Joint List and Ra’am, the strongest showing on record for Arab Israeli parties, a community that accounts for roughly one-fifth of Israel’s population.