Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot on Thursday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to delay the announcement of election results, as the Arab-Israeli Joint List said the accusations of election impropriety from the incumbent bloc showed their fear of the Arab community's newfound political clout.
"The Joint List asserts that the campaign of incitement led by Netanyahu and his fascist coalition against the Arab public's vote exposes their fear of its political strength," it said on Thursday, urging the anti-Netanyahu "opposition camp to stop echoing the lies".
In a statement, Eisenkot accused Netanyahu and his allies of carrying out an “improper influence operation” aimed at delaying the results beyond their scheduled announcement and creating pretexts to delegitimise the work of the incoming Knesset.
He also called for a “comprehensive, immediate and impartial investigation” into suspected “foreign interference.”
The dispute followed a letter sent by Judge Noam Sohlberg, the chair of Israel’s election committee, to Shin Bet security agency chief David Zini asking him to investigate “serious suspicions” of “hostile” foreign influence on the election in favour of Arab parties, Haaretz daily reported.
Netanyahu’s Likud party seized on the request, saying no Zionist party should cooperate with the United Arab List or the Joint List, the two Arab parties.
Likud also said Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a member of the party, should not be replaced by votes “bought with money", and that no government posing a danger to Israel should be formed.
Eisenkot also accused Netanyahu of responding to political developments with “lies, manipulation of public opinion, and the spread of chaos".
Ridiculous allegations
The Israel Hayom daily reported that Israeli police found no evidence supporting election fraud allegations by the Likud party, while the Central Elections Committee sees no current grounds for concern over the integrity of the vote.
Meanwhile, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson rejected accusations "made by certain Israeli politicians and their contacts in the media" that his country had interfered in the Israeli elections.
"We categorically deny allegations that Qatar has interfered in Israeli elections or funded any activities intended to influence their outcome," said Majed Al Ansari.
"They accuse Qatar of buying off Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli political left, and now, in this latest campaign, the Arab vote. These accusations are ridiculous and dangerous in equal measure."
With all regular ballots counted, Netanyahu’s bloc had secured 53 seats, compared to 48 for the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot, while Arab parties won a combined 19 seats.
Neither main bloc reached the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset, leaving Arab lawmakers potentially pivotal in efforts to form a government.
The new Knesset is expected to be sworn in on November 10, while the official election results are due to be announced next Wednesday.
