There is no evidence that Arab parties in Israel received their votes illegally, said the head of the Central Election Commission, Dean Livne. He rejected accusations of electoral fraud made after the strong performance of Arab parties in the parliamentary vote.
“There are no signs that Arab parties received their votes illegally,“ Livne told public television “Kan“.
His statement came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party accused Arab parties of stealing the elections. The party said it was about parties that "support terrorism and the destruction of the Jewish state."
Police see no factual basis
A senior police official described the accusations as propaganda tactics with no factual basis. He said fewer complaints of irregularities were filed during this election than in previous elections.
Police Commissioner Daniel Levy said that any complaint related to the election would be investigated thoroughly and impartially.
“If there are any suspicions of criminal offenses, the police will act decisively to uncover the truth and enforce justice,“ Levy said.
Thus, the investigation of possible specific signals remains possible, but so far no evidence has been presented to confirm the claim that Arab parties illegally influenced the result.
Arab parties expected to receive 19 seats
According to the preliminary count, Arab parties are almost doubling their parliamentary representation compared to the 2022 elections. They are expected to have a total of 19 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.
Their result increases the political weight of the Arab formations at a time when accusations by the “Likud“ have called into question the legitimacy of the vote. However, the commission and the police have distinguished the investigation of individual reports from the general discrediting of the electoral process.
President Yitzhak Herzog also called for the entire vote of Israeli Arabs not to be stigmatized.
“Allegations of violations must be investigated, but we must avoid discrediting an entire community that exercised its right to vote,“ Herzog said.
The final assessment of the individual reports will depend on the results of the checks by the competent authorities. So far, statements from the election commission, the police and the president do not confirm the claim that Arab parties "stole" the parliamentary elections.
Sources: bta.bg, apnews.com, theguardian.com