TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and its electoral bloc have failed to secure the parliamentary majority required to form a government, prompting the ruling party to accuse Arab parties of electoral fraud.
According to The Times of Israel, Likud has alleged that Arab parties committed serious offences, including bribery, threats, violence, forgery and the use of illegal software to mobilise voters. These remain allegations, and no independently verified findings or final investigation results have been reported in the account.
The report said Arab-led parties, including Ra’am, secured a record number of votes in the election. Preliminary estimates suggest they could collectively win 19 seats, potentially marking the largest combined representation of Arab parties in the history of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.
Their projected gains could make it more difficult for both Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposing Jewish parties to secure a clear parliamentary majority.
Likud has claimed that it possesses hundreds of testimonies and other evidence relating to the alleged irregularities. The party has also alleged that thousands of envelopes containing cash and Ra’am ballot papers were found, election workers were threatened, some individuals voted more than once, and discrepancies emerged between voter numbers and ballot-envelope records.
The ruling party has called on the police, the domestic security agency and the Central Elections Committee to conduct an immediate and comprehensive investigation into the allegations.
However, an official from the Central Elections Committee rejected claims of electoral fraud in an interview with Channel 12, according to the report.
The competing claims have added to the political uncertainty surrounding government formation, with neither side appearing to have secured a clear parliamentary majority based on the preliminary figures.