Netanyahu’s Likud Accuses Arab Parties of Election Fraud
TEL AVIV: Likud, the party of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday, October 28, accused Arab political parties of stealing votes through widespread electoral fraud. Early results have produced no clear winner, and neither Netanyahu nor his main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, is expected to win a parliamentary majority.In a statement, Likud said Arab parties…
TEL AVIV: Likud, the party of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday, October 28, accused Arab political parties of stealing votes through widespread electoral fraud. Early results have produced no clear winner, and neither Netanyahu nor his main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, is expected to win a parliamentary majority.
In a statement, Likud said Arab parties had stolen the election through serious crimes including bribery, voter intimidation, violence, forgery and the use of prohibited software to mobilise voters. It claimed cash and thousands of envelopes filled with ballots were distributed to voters for Ra’am, an Arab party, and alleged that some voters cast multiple ballots, used fake identities and relied on banned software to inflate turnout. Likud said it was handing statements from hundreds of witnesses, along with evidence, to Israeli police, the Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee, and demanded a full investigation and legal action. None of the allegations has been independently verified, and Likud has not made its purported evidence public.
With 85.6 percent of votes counted, the outcome remains uncertain. Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc leads with 53 seats, the opposition bloc has 48 and the Arab parties 19. With 61 seats needed for a majority, no bloc has reached the threshold. Despite Trump’s backing, Netanyahu faces real uncertainty over his political survival, while the opposition under Eisenkot has made unprecedented gains.
