Netanyahu claims election fraud after losing parliamentary majority
File photo: REUTERS
On election day in March 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu filmed a controversial 28-second video, warning right-wing voters that Arab citizens were heading to the polls “in droves.”
A week later, after winning against prevailing expectations, he apologized, saying he did not intend to offend the Arab sector as a whole. Eleven years and six elections later, Netanyahu is playing the exact same game on a much grander scale.
Following the loss of his majority in the 27 October vote, Netanyahu and his allies have pressed an accusation, Arab parties systematically “stolen” the election through bribery, foreign funding, and fraud. They demand investigations, arrests, and, in the most extreme version, canceling the vote and holding another round of elections.
They have yet to present any evidence, but the political goal remains clear: casting a veil of illegitimacy on the Joint List and Raam, the two Arab parties that saw record turnout and are likely a crucial part of any effort to oust Israel’s longest-serving leader.
Netanyahu’s main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, directly criticized the narrative in a Thursday video statement, saying, “They are doing this because they lost.”
Neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot won the election outright or lost it outright. Both fell short of the required 61-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament needed for a clear victory, leaving Israel facing weeks or months of political uncertainty.
Netanyahu’s coalition dropped to 53 seats with no clear way to secure a majority. The Eisenkot-led bloc holds 48 seats on its own, but with the support of 19 seats from the Arab parties, it commands a clear majority of 67 seats.
The only government to have ousted Netanyahu - the Bennett-Lapid government in 2021 - included Raam, collapsing after roughly a year. A source close to Netanyahu stated that his primary goal post-election is delegitimizing and preventing any Jewish-Arab political cooperation that could weaken his grip on power.
The effort started weeks before election day. In mid-October, Netanyahu and Religious Zionist party chair Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to deploy about 2,000 observers at polling stations in Arab communities, framing Arab voting stations as sites of potential fraud.
Early on election morning, police arrested three Raam activists over an alleged cash-for-votes scheme in a widely publicized incident. Israel’s Channel 12 News later reported that the original tip came from Netanyahu’s chief of staff, who bypassed standard channels to personally reach the police commissioner.
Courts rejected most police requests for tough restrictions, releasing some suspects. However, Netanyahu’s campaign machine seized on the story, amplifying arrests and claiming an effort to “steal the elections.”
As ballots were counted, the campaign intensified. On Wednesday, Netanyahu’s Likud party stated it submitted hundreds of testimonies alleging bribery, threats, violence, and forgery from Raam and the Joint List. Meanwhile, the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 reported suspicions of millions of shekels from a foreign source.
A leaked letter escalated the controversy. Central Elections Committee chair and Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice Noam Solberg wrote to Shin Bet security service director David Zini, requesting an inquiry into “serious suspicions” of foreign funding.
Israeli media later reported that Zini requested the letter following a meeting with Netanyahu. Solberg noted he could not verify the seriousness of the evidence, but Likud and right-wing politicians treated the letter as confirmation and proof.
Far-right allies Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir called to arrest Arab party leaders, with Ben Gvir alleging a Qatari-funded effort to boost Arab turnout - a claim Qatar categorically denied as “ridiculous and dangerous.”
Channel 14 dubbed the narrative “The Ballot Terror.” Likud lawmaker Boaz Bismuth wrote on X that results of “terrorist parties” should not be recognized until “every stone” was turned.
On Sunday, Netanyahu shared a video of a right-wing activist claiming massive forgeries and calling to “simply invalidate the elections.” The episodes drew sharp criticism of the police commissioner and Shin Bet chief - both Netanyahu appointees.
Haaretz senior defense analyst Amos Harel highlighted the pattern, writing, “In both cases the Prime Minister’s Office is stirring things behind the scenes with the Shin Bet and the police, and Likud immediately leverages the reports into a massive propaganda campaign” designed to delegitimize Arab parties and reduce opposition flexibility.
However, election authorities rejected Netanyahu’s narrative. The Central Elections Committee officially dismissed claims of widespread fraud as baseless, stating no evidentiary basis exists for alleging systematic compromise.
On Sunday, the committee chairman appeared alongside the Shin Bet head and attorney-general in a special statement, confirming the elections were conducted properly.
Solberg assured the public, “Your decision at the ballot box will be honored,” adding that foreign funding suspicions, even if substantiated, would not overturn results or undermine integrity. Unmoved, Likud insisted in a statement that a “black cloud” hangs over the results.
Opposition leaders backed the investigation while framing Netanyahu’s allegations as an effort to undermine the outcome. Eisenkot called it a “despicable and malicious influence operation” meant to delay result publication and delegitimize the 26th Knesset.
Left-wing Democrats party leader Yair Golan remarked that this is how “a dictator who refuses to accept defeat at the ballot box” behaves.
Firing back, the Joint List defended its democratic mandate, saying, “No smear campaign will erase the achievement of the Arab public, and no attempt to cast doubt on the legitimacy of our vote will change the will of the voters.”
The party concluded, “You wanted us small and weak, and you got us big and strong.”
Source: CNN (adapted)
