Israel Certifies Election After Review of 9,069 Polling Stations Finds No Fraud

Israel's Central Elections Committee certified the results of last week's national vote on Wednesday and said its review found no fraud, rejecting claims by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies that the election was "stolen." Al Jazeera reported that the committee examined 9,069 polling stations and found no irregularities that compromised the integrity of the vote or changed its outcome.

The certified results leave neither side with a governing majority, so weeks of coalition bargaining are likely, and a new election early next year is possible if talks fail.

What the election committee found

The committee said in a statement that its review found no evidence of irregularities that affected the election's integrity or results. Acting director Dean Livne said every complaint was examined individually and thoroughly, and that the results accurately reflect voters' choices, according to Euronews and Al Jazeera.

The committee's chairman, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, said some suspicions are still under investigation but do not cast doubt on the election as a whole or justify delaying the results, The Guardian reported. Al Jazeera reported that he warned those questioning the outcome pose "a real danger" to Israeli democracy.

The committee's five-member presidium split along party lines, according to Al Jazeera. Representatives of Yesh Atid and Blue and White voted to ratify, Likud and Shas abstained, and Sohlberg cast the deciding vote.

The claims from Netanyahu's camp

Netanyahu and his supporters have said, without evidence, that Arab-led parties took the election with possible foreign help, according to Al Jazeera and Euronews. The Guardian reported that Netanyahu began promoting the fraud accusations on election day.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on X that the elections were stolen and that foreign countries interfered. He urged Shin Bet chief David Zini to arrest and question Arab party leaders, and said his Otzma Yehudit party would vote against approving the results. Likud lawmaker Amit Halevi resigned from the committee, alleging that some legislators bought their seats with bribe money. Qatar rejected claims that it funded Arab-led parties, calling them disinformation.

Al Jazeera, citing The Times of Israel, reported that Shin Bet told the committee its intelligence pointed to widespread foreign funding and influence operations involving "thousands of people and possibly more." Law enforcement sources told Haaretz they knew of no operation of that size. A separate Shin Bet investigation into foreign interference is continuing, an elections committee spokesperson said, according to Euronews.

The response from officials and the opposition

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said she blocked a Shin Bet demand to interrogate senior politicians from the Palestinian-led parties because she had been shown no evidence of wrongdoing, The Guardian reported. Haaretz reported that four politicians were targeted. According to The Guardian, Zini had sought to classify the case as a security file, which would have allowed harsher conditions, including barring the politicians from seeing a lawyer. Likud accused the attorney general of blocking the questioning, and she effectively accused Zini, a Netanyahu appointee, of undermining the rule of law, per The Times of Israel as cited by Al Jazeera.

Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot said Netanyahu had launched a "pogrom against democracy" and was using security forces against opponents. President Isaac Herzog, receiving the results, condemned what he called coarse and racist expressions against Arab citizens, who turned out at historic rates, according to The Guardian.

Why it matters for Israel's next government

Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats in the Oct. 27 vote and Eisenkot's opposition bloc won 48, Al Jazeera reported. The Arab-led parties Ra'am and the Joint List secured a record 19. A government needs 61 of the Knesset's 120 seats, and neither bloc reached that.

That opens the possibility of a unity government between the two rivals or an alliance between Eisenkot and Arab-led parties, according to Euronews and Al Jazeera. The Guardian reported that Palestinian-led parties have said their priority is removing Netanyahu, so they are expected to back Eisenkot. Herzog urged both sides to accept that not every promise can be kept and to avoid new elections.

Al Jazeera, citing Haaretz, reported that Likud had weighed refusing to recognize the results altogether. Such a step would be unprecedented in Israel and would likely be swiftly overturned by the courts. Sohlberg wrote that no party could withhold publication of the results, and said they are "binding on us all."

What happens next

Herzog will hold two days of consultations with party leaders before choosing the candidate best placed to form a coalition. The Times of Israel reported he will start with the smaller parties, with Likud last, in a break from custom. The Guardian reported he is expected to name Eisenkot, possibly as early as Thursday evening.

The chosen candidate gets 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension, Al Jazeera reported. After the November 2022 election, Netanyahu took 58 days. If no one succeeds, Israel would hold another election early next year.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Euronews, Al Jazeera, The Guardian