Israel’s Central Elections Committee on Wednesday confirmed the results of last week’s election and rejected claims of voting fraud made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies.
The committee said a review of 9,069 polling stations found no irregularities that compromised the integrity of the October 27 vote or changed its results. Its chairman, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, said those casting doubt on the results pose “a real danger” to Israel’s democracy.
The final tally gives Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats and the bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot 48, while the Arab parties Ra’am and the Joint List won a record 19. A government needs 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
President Isaac Herzog will hold two days of consultations with party leaders before choosing a candidate to form a government, who will have 28 days with a possible 14-day extension. “In the current reality, in which there is no clear winner after the elections, I ask for originality and creativity, courage and goodwill, so that the State of Israel emerges the winner,” Herzog said, according to Al Jazeera.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on X that “the elections were stolen, the results are fraudulent,” while Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of launching a “pogrom against democracy.” Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara blocked Shin Bet questioning of Arab politicians over the fraud claims.
Sources: Al Jazeera, The Guardian
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