Israelis await final election results as claim of foreign interference emerges

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his party on Thursday amplified allegations that the country’s Arab-led parties had “stolen” the election, as final results are set to confirm that Netanyahu’s bloc has lost its majority in parliament.

The opposition accused Netanyahu of demonizing the Arab population after a historic showing by Arab-led parties. If the rest of the opposition teams up with them in a rare and politically risky move, they would form the next government. Final vote results are expected Thursday evening.

Netanyahu seized on a new request by the country’s elections committee to the Shin Bet intelligence service to investigate alleged election interference by unspecified “foreign entities against the Israeli interest.” While the request had no reference to Arab-led parties, the prime minister and his Likud party said no party should cooperate with Arab-led ones.

“The elections in Israel have been stolen!” Likud said, claiming without evidence that the alleged interference was “aimed at facilitating a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamization of Israel and toppling of the right wing government.”

It was not clear who made the latest allegations. But Qatar issued a sharp statement: “We categorically deny allegations that Qatar has interfered in Israeli elections or funded any activities intended to influence their outcome,” it said, adding it is accused of buying off the Arab vote.

The elections committee did not give further details, and the Shin Bet did not respond to questions. The committee wants findings within the week. Israeli law requires election results to be certified by Nov. 4.

Opposition leaders were among those raising concerns that Netanyahu was preparing to question the legitimacy of the vote. “Netanyahu is working to steal the election,” the Arab-led Joint List asserted.

Netanyahu campaigned on an alleged Arab threat

Even ahead of the vote, Netanyahu and Likud painted the Arab-led parties as a danger to Israel, which critics called an attempt to further marginalize Arab citizens who make up 20% of the population but are often seen with suspicion because of their sympathies with other Palestinians.

Those campaign attacks, along with anger over the divisive Netanyahu and his far-right government, brought outraged Arabs to the polls like never before.

On Thursday, Yair Golan, head of the Democrats party, accused Netanyahu of “attempting to undermine the election results through an ugly delegitimization campaign directed against the will of the public — and against the Arab public in particular.”

The head of the Arab-led Ra’am party, Mansour Abbas, welcomed the investigation into election interference and said his party had nothing to do with the case, while accusing Netanyahu of a campaign of incitement.

Netanyahu’s chief rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, warned that political actors should not “exploit the situation” to influence the timing of the next parliament’s swearing-in, set for Nov. 10. Eisenkot’s Yashar party said he had been briefed by the Shin Bet chief.

Even the elections committee seemed to sound a note of caution. “To the best of our knowledge, there is no basis for claims of systematic violations of election integrity,” its acting director general said in a letter dated Thursday to one member of parliament.

President Isaac Herzog, who soon must task Netanyahu or one of his opponents with forming the next government, called it a “sensitive moment” and called for a full investigation. He warned that “we must not tarnish an entire community that sought to exercise its right to vote and take an active part in democracy.”

Difficult decisions are ahead as parties seek coalitions

The developments amplified the difficult decisions for the weeks ahead. Those include whether some Jewish and Arab parties would team up in a historic alliance, or whether some parties that campaigned on ousting Netanyahu would toss that aside and join forces with him.

While the race for a 61-seat majority needed to control the 120-seat Knesset plays out, Netanyahu remains in charge.

Local media have projected 53 parliament seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, 48 seats for opposition parties and 19 for Arab-led ones, which also want Netanyahu out.

If Netanyahu loses office, that would set off a cascade of events that critics say he has desperately sought to avoid. He would be taken to account over yearslong corruption allegations, and an inquiry almost certainly would begin into the security failures that led to the devastating Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Netanyahu’s Likud has targeted Arab-led parties

Despite receiving the most votes, Netanyahu’s Likud on Wednesday accused Arab-led parties of stealing the election and asked the elections committee to investigate. It did not provide specific evidence to support its claims.

Even without a role in a coalition, Arab-led parties could assert their growing power by supporting other Netanyahu opponents in the next parliament. That could include electing a new speaker, giving them control of the agenda and potentially allowing them to advance and pass legislation before a new government is formed.

Eisenkot has indicated he is open, with conditions, to joining forces with the Arab-led parties. Ahmad Tibi, second on the Arab-led Joint List, told Army Radio the opposition bloc reached out to him to discuss replacing the Knesset speaker, and he told them the party would support the bloc’s candidate.

There were small rallies overnight in Tel Aviv, and in far more conservative Jerusalem, in support of a coalition that includes Arab-led parties. Until 2021, no Arab party had joined a coalition government, and that was brief.

If a new government cannot be formed after multiple attempts, Israel would face a new election early next year. On Wednesday, Herzog signaled he wanted to avoid that step — something Eisenkot has said as well.

New elections bring new questions, including whether Arab citizens would again go to the polls in large numbers and whether the tens of thousands of Israelis who flew home to vote would do it again. Many had said they took that step to save the country from Netanyahu.

A deeply divided Israel might see Netanyahu stay on

Israel, divided along multiple fault lines — Jews and Arabs, secular and religious — entered the election with huge and painful issues at stake.

Those include whether the fast-growing ultra-Orthodox population should remain exempted from compulsory military service in a country where many families have seen their sons and daughters killed in three years of inconclusive wars.

Netanyahu has been especially polarizing. His opponents have accused him of delaying making deals over the war in Gaza, including to free hostages, for political gain.

While many Israelis voted with security issues first in mind, the country’s international standing is also at stake after widespread criticism over the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and growing violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.

For Arab citizens, there is cautious hope of change. “God willing, we will have something for us in the government, something that will bring us our rights,” said Brosli Elias, a resident of Nazareth, one of Israel’s largest Arab cities.

Meanwhile, the threat of further strikes against Iran adds to the election uncertainty. The Trump administration has spoken of new attacks after the midterm elections on Nov. 3. Experts have said Netanyahu could seize on a renewed all-out war to press for a unity government with him in charge.

Saeed reported from Abu Snan. Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed to this report.