Israel’s opposition leaders clash with Netanyahu over election integrity

Israeli opposition leaders are accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to invalidate the recent election results.

Gadi Eisenkot, the head of the main opposition bloc, joined Arab-led party representatives in condemning the prime minister's actions. They argued that Netanyahu is trying to delegitimize the Arab parties to block a path to government.

The conflict arose after final counts showed that neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the Jewish opposition secured a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. The two Arab party lists, The Joint List and Ra'am, won a record 19 seats. Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats, while Eisenkot's bloc won 48. This leaves the Arab parties as potential kingmakers.

On Thursday, Likud claimed that voters had been bribed to support Arab parties. This followed a request by the head of the Central Elections Committee for the Shin Bet security service to investigate suspicions of foreign interference. The CEC received a claim that Qatar provided funding to increase voter turnout in Arab communities.

Qatar's foreign ministry rejected the claims as ridiculous and dangerous. The ministry accused Israeli politicians of running a disinformation campaign against Doha.

Netanyahu and his Likud Party described the allegations as a political earthquake and an attack on democracy. They framed the situation as a move to remove their right-wing government from power.

However, the Shin Bet later clarified that the investigation did not implicate an entire community that voted legally. Dean Livne, the acting Director General of the CEC, stated there was no basis for allegations of systematic violations of election integrity.

Eisenkot, who was briefed on the investigation, said it is too early to determine if anything happened at all. He accused Netanyahu of running an orchestrated campaign to delegitimize the election results. Sami Abu Shehadeh, chairman of Balad which is part of the Joint List, called the allegations a racist blood libel constructed by the losing side.

Netanyahu has attacked Arab voters for days. On election day, he posted on social media that high Arab turnout is an emergency for the Israeli right. He also shared AI-generated images of Arab voters at polling stations to encourage right-wing turnout. Arab Israelis make up about one fifth of the country and have increasingly voted to oust the current coalition.

Three plausible government options remain. A national unity government involving both main blocs, a right-wing coalition with defectors from the opposition, or an Eisenkot-led government supported by the Arab parties. Eisenkot and his bloc have mostly refused to join with Arab parties, but a poll from Hebrew University showed that a minority government with Ra'am was the most popular option among opposition voters.