JERUSALEM: The Arab-majority Joint List has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to discredit the election results by making baseless allegations of electoral fraud and foreign interference.
According to Israeli media, the party said in a statement that right-wing politicians are unwilling to accept the outcome and are running a campaign of false accusations and incitement against Arab voters.
The Joint List alleged that leaders of Netanyahu’s Likud party began a systematic campaign months before the vote to undermine the political standing of Arab parties. It said this included efforts to have Arab parties disqualified and the alleged harassment of voters at polling stations.
The party said Arab citizens turned out in unusually large numbers to secure a historic result, one that no negative campaign could erase.
According to partial results, Netanyahu’s bloc is projected to win 53 seats, while the opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot could secure 48 seats.
The 19 combined seats held by the Joint List and the Arab party Ra’am could prove decisive for the opposition. If both Arab parties cooperate with Eisenkot’s alliance, it could command the support of 67 members, well above the 61 seats needed to form a government.
The Joint List called on opposition leaders to reject Netanyahu’s allegations and take practical steps toward forming a new government together with Arab parties. “You cannot succeed without us, but with us a different future can be built,” the party said.
Meanwhile, Justice Noam Sohlberg, head of Israel’s Central Elections Committee, has ordered an investigation into alleged foreign funding in the electoral process. However, no evidence substantiating the allegations against Arab parties has so far been made public.
Dan Levy, acting director general of the Central Elections Committee, also rejected claims of large-scale fraud, saying the elections were conducted in accordance with the law and that he was not aware of any evidence of systematic irregularities.