Israeli opposition accuses Netanyahu of trying to 'delegitimise' election

Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot and Arab-led party leaders have denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleging foreign interference in the election, after his coalition lost its majority in the Knesset.

Foreign interference claims

Likud alleged that Arab-led parties had "stolen" the election. The Shin Bet domestic security agency is investigating whether they received illegal funding from Qatar and Turkey. Qatar's foreign ministry rejected the allegations as "ridiculous and dangerous" and said Israeli politicians were running a disinformation campaign against Doha.

Final results showed that neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the Jewish opposition had secured a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. The two Arab party lists, The Joint List and Ra'am, won a record 19 seats following a surge in Arab voter turnout. That makes them potential kingmakers: Netanyahu's bloc has 53 seats and Eisenkot's bloc 48.

On Thursday, Likud claimed voters had been "bribed" to support Arab parties, after the Central Elections Committee chief asked Shin Bet to look into "serious suspicions" of foreign interference. Both Arab parties rejected the claim, with the Joint List calling it baseless. Israeli media reported that the committee had been presented with a claim that Qatar provided funding to increase turnout in Arab communities; Qatar denied it "categorically".

Netanyahu's critics see the row as an attempt to delegitimise the Arab parties, making it politically impossible for Eisenkot to join forces with them—currently his bloc's only route to power. Netanyahu and Likud framed the allegations as a "political earthquake" and "an attack on democracy".

The Shin Bet later said its investigation did not implicate an entire community who had voted legally. Acting CEC Director General Dean Livne said there was "no basis for allegations of systematic violations of election integrity." Eisenkot, who was briefed on the investigation, said it was too early to determine what happened and accused Netanyahu of running "an orchestrated and organized campaign to delegitimize the election results."

Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, part of the Joint List, said: "The losing side is constructing a racist blood libel and calling on the security agencies to use force in order to overturn the election results."

Coalition arithmetic

Three options remain for forming a government: a national unity administration with Netanyahu and Eisenkot, a right-wing coalition of Netanyahu and defectors from Eisenkot's bloc, or an Eisenkot-led government backed by the Arab parties. Eisenkot and all but one member of his bloc have previously refused to enter government with Arab parties, but speculation has grown that an agreement could be reached. A snap poll by Hebrew University found the most popular option among opposition voters was for Eisenkot to form a minority government with Ra'am, supported from outside by the Joint List.

Arab voter turnout

Netanyahu spent much of election day posting on social media that high Arab turnout was an "emergency" and a "matter of life or death" for the Israeli right. He also shared AI-generated images of Arab voters at polling stations. Arab Israelis, many of whom refer to themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel, make up about one fifth of the population. Many previously boycotted elections, but turnout on Tuesday was driven by a desire to oust Netanyahu's right-wing coalition.

Source: BBC World.