Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has accused Arab-led political parties of stealing Israel’s general election, making extraordinary allegations of widespread electoral fraud as a historic surge in support for Palestinian citizens threatens the prime minister’s grip on power.
The accusations came on Wednesday, 28 October, as results from Israel’s parliamentary election suggested that neither Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition nor the main opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot would secure the 61 seats required to govern.
Instead, the country’s Arab-led parties emerged as potential kingmakers, with projections indicating that they could secure 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset, almost twice the number they held before the election.
Likud responded by claiming that the result had been stolen through bribery, intimidation, violence, false voting records and other alleged irregularities in predominantly Arab communities.
The party said it was submitting hundreds of pieces of evidence and testimony to the police, domestic security agency Shin Bet and Israel’s Central Elections Committee.
However, the allegations have not been independently substantiated, and no evidence establishing systematic manipulation of the national result has been made public.
The Central Elections Committee has confirmed that it is examining Likud’s submission through its normal complaints procedure.
Likud accuses Arab parties of stealing the election
The allegations were set out in a statement issued by Netanyahu’s party after preliminary results showed the extraordinary importance of votes cast for Arab-led lists.
Likud claimed that the election had been stolen by parties it accused of supporting terrorism and seeking the destruction of the Jewish state.
It alleged that serious offences involving bribery, violence, threats, forged records and prohibited voter-mobilisation software had undermined the integrity of the vote.
The party demanded an immediate investigation by Israel’s law enforcement authorities and the Central Elections Committee.
Among its claims were allegations that some voters had received cash in exchange for supporting Ra’am, also known as the United Arab List, and that irregularities had occurred in the handling of ballot papers and voter identification.
The party further alleged that intimidation had been directed at election officials and that individuals had attempted to vote improperly.
These remain allegations. The public evidence available at the time of reporting does not demonstrate that Arab-led parties stole the election or that the national vote count was systematically manipulated.
The distinction is particularly important given the scale of Likud’s claim.
An investigation into specific suspected election offences is not the same as a finding that an entire political community or its elected representatives engaged in a coordinated attempt to overturn a national election.
Police arrests become central to Netanyahu’s claims
Netanyahu had begun raising concerns about Arab voting during polling on Tuesday, before the full results were known.
In a video directed at Likud supporters, he warned that Arab voters in southern Israel were turning out in substantial numbers and urged his own supporters to head immediately to polling stations.
The prime minister referred to the arrest of three people from Bedouin communities in the Negev, who were suspected of involvement in election bribery.
Police said searches had uncovered envelopes containing cash and ballot slips associated with Ra’am.
Investigators suspected that the money was intended to influence how people voted.
But Netanyahu went further, suggesting that senior Ra’am figures had been implicated and that the election itself was being stolen.
Contemporary reporting noted that there was no confirmation that the suspects held senior positions within Ra’am.
The arrests provide grounds for investigating possible individual offences, but they do not establish the wider claims subsequently made by Likud.
Netanyahu nevertheless used the allegations to encourage greater turnout among right-wing voters.
He warned supporters that the political future of Israel was at stake and portrayed increased Arab participation as a threat to his preferred government.
His appeal came during an election in which Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up roughly one fifth of the population, were voting in unusually large numbers.
Arab parties almost double their parliamentary representation
The most significant development in the election has been the strong showing of the Arab-led parties.
With more than 90 per cent of votes counted, the Joint List and Ra’am were projected to win a combined 19 seats.
The two parties previously held ten seats between them.
That improvement has transformed the parliamentary arithmetic.
Netanyahu’s Likud remained the largest individual party in the preliminary count, but his broader alliance of right-wing, nationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties appeared likely to fall short of a majority.
The rival alliance associated with Eisenkot was also below the required threshold.
That leaves the Arab-led parties holding votes which could be essential to forming a government without Netanyahu.
Although they represent a substantial part of Israel’s electorate, Palestinian citizens have frequently faced political exclusion and hostility from parties seeking to form governing coalitions.
Some opposition leaders have previously ruled out entering a government dependent on Arab parties.
The election result now presents those politicians with an unusually direct choice between maintaining that position and exploring a coalition capable of removing Netanyahu.
Opposition figures reject Netanyahu’s attempt to divide votes
Yair Golan, leader of Israel’s Democrats party and a member of the anti-Netanyahu camp, responded by urging opposition politicians to recognise the legitimacy of Arab voters.
In a statement published on X, Golan argued that the votes of Palestinian citizens must carry exactly the same democratic weight as those of Jewish citizens.
He challenged the political distinction that Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly drawn between Jewish and Arab participation in the election.
Golan said the opposition had a responsibility to stop being afraid of cooperation with Arab-led parties.
He argued that a government seeking to replace Netanyahu should be prepared to work with representatives of all Israeli citizens.
His intervention represents a challenge to the position of some other opposition figures, who remain reluctant to depend on Arab parties for parliamentary support.
Gadi Eisenkot, whose Yashar party leads the principal opposition challenge, now faces pressure to decide whether he is prepared to build an alliance broad enough to secure a majority.
The electoral numbers may make such cooperation possible.
Whether the politicians involved can agree on a programme of government is a separate and far more difficult question.
Netanyahu faces opposition from across Israel’s political divide
The election was the first national vote since the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 and the subsequent wars involving Gaza and the wider region.
Netanyahu entered the contest facing widespread criticism over his government’s conduct, its handling of national security and the influence of far-right ministers within his coalition.
His government has also faced protests over judicial independence, corruption allegations and exemptions from military service for sections of the ultra-Orthodox population.
The war in Gaza, which has caused devastating civilian suffering, has intensified international scrutiny of Israel’s government and deepened divisions within the country.
Those issues featured prominently throughout the election campaign.
Netanyahu sought to present himself as the strongest guarantor of Israel’s security, while opposition politicians argued that the country needed a change of leadership.
But the election has exposed the difficulty of translating opposition to Netanyahu into agreement on what should replace him.
Eisenkot and other prominent Jewish Israeli opposition figures have themselves adopted positions strongly opposed to Palestinian statehood.
For Arab-led parties, entering or supporting a coalition would therefore involve substantial disagreements over the rights and future of Palestinians.
Their potential influence in the new parliament does not mean those disagreements have disappeared.
Election authorities examine complaints
Israel’s Central Elections Committee has confirmed that it received Likud’s allegations and is examining the submission.
The committee said the complaints were being handled through its established procedure for reviewing disputed polling-station results and suspected irregularities.
Political parties can provide information about locations where they believe further checks are required.
The committee then considers the complaints and determines whether additional examination is necessary.
That process does not amount to acceptance of Likud’s allegations.
Nor does the existence of an investigation justify describing the overall election result as fraudulent.
The mayor of Rahat, Talal al-Krenawi, strongly rejected the accusations directed at Bedouin communities, describing them as inflammatory and unfair.
He argued that the election had been conducted properly and condemned efforts to characterise local participation as evidence of widespread wrongdoing.
The dispute has placed the legitimacy of Arab political participation at the centre of an already tense struggle over the next government.
The 61-seat problem that could decide Netanyahu’s future
The final election result remains subject to the completion and confirmation of the count, including ballots processed through special voting arrangements.
Once the result is established, President Isaac Herzog will consult parliamentary parties before selecting the politician he believes has the best chance of assembling a government.
A parliamentary majority requires the support of at least 61 members of the Knesset.
Neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the principal Jewish Israeli opposition bloc appeared capable of reaching that number independently.
The Arab-led parties therefore occupy a potentially decisive position.
If Eisenkot and his allies are prepared to cooperate with them, Netanyahu could face the end of his premiership.
If those parties remain excluded, the opposition may struggle to form a viable government even if a majority of newly elected lawmakers oppose Netanyahu.
Other possibilities include a broader unity agreement, a minority administration or another election if negotiations fail.
For now, Netanyahu remains prime minister while the final results and subsequent coalition discussions determine what happens next.
His party has responded to its uncertain parliamentary position with sweeping allegations about the integrity of Arab votes.
Those allegations are being examined by the relevant authorities, but they have not been established as fact.
The confirmed political development is that Palestinian citizens of Israel have voted in numbers sufficient to give their representatives a much larger presence in the Knesset.
Their elected parties could now determine whether Netanyahu remains in power, provided the politicians seeking to replace him are willing to work with them.
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