Benjamin Netanyahu and his "Likud" party declared the parliamentary elections in Israel "stolen" after the ruling bloc won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset and was left without a majority. 61 seats are needed to control parliament.
The opposition bloc, led by former Chief of General Staff Gadi Eisenkot, won 48 seats. The remaining 19 seats are for parties led by Arab politicians. Thus, neither of the two main camps has the necessary majority on its own.
Likud accuses foreign forces
In a sharp statement, “Likud“ said that the elections were stolen in order to “facilitate the capture of the Knesset by foreign forces, the Islamization of Israel and the overthrow of the right-wing government“. The party directed its accusations at Qatar, which it said supported attempts to influence the vote.
Doha rejected the allegations and described them as “meaningless and dangerous“. No public evidence of interference has been presented.
The chairman of Israel's Central Election Commission, Supreme Court Justice Noam Solberg, announced that he had received “serious suspicions“ about foreign influence, based on classified intelligence. He stressed that they do not affect a specific part of the population and will not change the final results.
„This does not affect the final results that will be submitted to the president, and does not concern any specific part of the population“, said Noam Solberg.Eizenkot: They are doing this because they lost
Gadi Eisenkot accused „Likud“ of trying to question the legitimacy of the elections. „They are doing this because they lost“, he said.
Eisenkot ironically welcomed the fact that Netanyahu has already condemned alleged Qatari interference in Israel's internal affairs. The prime minister himself has long been the subject of accusations that former high-ranking officials in his entourage received funds from Qatar. These claims are not supported by the court decisions presented in the article.
According to his political opponents, the accusations against the Arab parties could hinder their attempts to form a coalition with them. Netanyahu has previously said that an alliance between Eisenkot and Arab parties would constitute treason.
The final results are due to be presented to President Yitzhak Herzog on November 4. The new Knesset is due to be sworn in on November 10, while political forces begin talks to form a government.
Sources: ukrinform.ua, apnews.com, timesofisrael.com