Israel’s Central Elections Committee has certified the results of last week’s parliamentary elections after finding no evidence of fraud, a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to discredit the vote.
Speaking at the official results ceremony at President Isaac Herzog’s residence, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg said those casting doubt on the election results pose “a real danger” to Israel’s democracy.
The elections committee said a review of 9,069 polling stations found no irregularities that compromised the integrity of the election or changed its results. Its acting director, Dean Livne, said every complaint had been examined individually and the results accurately reflected voters’ choices.
In the committee’s five-member presidium, representatives of Yesh Atid and Blue and White voted to ratify the results, while Likud and Shas abstained. The chair, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, cast the deciding vote.
Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that Arab-led parties “stole” the election, possibly with foreign help.
After the vote, the internal security agency Shin Bet told the committee that intelligence pointed to widespread foreign funding and influence operations involving “thousands of people and possibly more”, The Times of Israel reported. Law enforcement sources told Haaretz daily, they were unaware of any operation of that size.
The Shin Bet is reportedly seeking to question four Arab politicians, but has not given prosecutors evidence regarding three of them. Likud accused Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of blocking the interrogations. In turn, she effectively accused Shin Bet chief David Zini, a Netanyahu appointee, of undermining the rule of law, according to The Times of Israel.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Zini to arrest all Arab party leaders and question them in Shin Bet cells, even without the attorney general’s approval. He also demanded a freeze on certification and on forming a government. “The elections were stolen, the results are fraudulent, foreign countries interfered,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X, adding that his far-right Otzma Yehudit party would therefore vote against approving the results.
Likud legislator Amit Halevi resigned from the committee. He alleged that some lawmakers “bought their seats with bribe money” and that the vote reflected “the choice of the rulers of Qatar, Iran or Turkey”.
Haaretz reported that Likud had weighed refusing to recognise the results altogether. Such a move would be unprecedented in Israel, and would likely be swiftly overturned by the courts. Sohlberg rejected a Likud demand to discuss the results before certifying them, writing that no party, “however distinguished or senior”, could withhold their publication. He has said even if foreign interference were confirmed, it would not undermine the overall result. Qatar has rejected claims that it funded Arab-led parties, calling them disinformation.
The results were submitted to President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday. He will then hold two days of consultations with party leaders before choosing the candidate best placed to form a coalition. In a break from custom, The Times of Israel reported that President Herzog will meet with the smaller parties first, starting with Religious Zionism, followed by Shas and Yisrael Beytenu. It’s expected the remaining factions will meet with the President on Thursday, ending with Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar and, finally, Likud.
The Netanyahu-led bloc won 53 seats, while Eisenkot’s got 48, and the Arab-led parties Ra’am and the Joint List secured a record 19. Neither could attain the majority – 61 seats – needed to govern. The deadlock raises the possibility of a unity government or an alliance between Eisenkot and Arab-led parties. If no one is able to form a governing coalition, Israel would hold another election early next year.
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said the Democrats’ victory in the US Congress in the midterm elections had ruled out a unity government led by Netanyahu, a close ally of President Donald Trump.
“Israel cannot afford to let him remain prime minister,” Lapid wrote on X.
