Did Israel’s Election Panel Reject Netanyahu’s Fraud Claims?

Israel’s Central Elections Committee certified the result of the 27 October election on Wednesday 4 November. Justice Noam Sohlberg, the committee’s chairman, cast the deciding vote in its presidium after Likud and Shas representatives abstained. Otzma Yehudit had announced it would vote against.

The committee said its review of the protocols from 9,069 polling stations found “no irregularities or findings that would suggest that the integrity of the elections had been compromised.” Likud had said in the days after the vote that Arab parties stole it through bribery, threats and forgery. Israeli police said they had no investigative or intelligence evidence for claims of widespread fraud.

The committee’s final results give Benjamin Netanyahu‘s bloc 53 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, according to its published table. The Knesset is to be sworn in on 10 November.

The committee’s final count is 53 seats for the pro-Netanyahu bloc, 48 for the anti-Netanyahu bloc and 19 for the Arab parties. A majority needs 61. Sohlberg wrote, in refusing the outgoing coalition’s request to delay certification, that the committee cannot postpone it over information about investigations or law enforcement.

Likud said on 28 October that the election was stolen by Arab parties, and it asked police and the Shin Bet to investigate. The party said it had collected hundreds of testimonies. Police said the arrests so far involved three Ra’am activists suspected of paying a small number of voters in one Arab city.

On certification day, Likud MK Amit Halevi said he was resigning from the committee and alleged election interference without giving evidence. He said that “we can and must certify only the free choice of Israeli citizens.”

Otzma Yehudit, the party of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said it would vote against after other coalition parties asked it to consider abstaining. Its statement read: “The elections were rigged, the results are fraudulent and foreign countries interfered.” Shas abstained; the reports available on Wednesday quote no reason from it.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the same morning that “Israel cannot afford to let him remain prime minister.” He said the US midterm results eliminate any chance of a unity government led by Netanyahu.

Three coalition positions sat side by side on Wednesday: Halevi’s resignation, Shas’s abstention and Otzma’s statement that the vote was fraudulent. The committee reported that Yesh Atid and Blue and White voted in favour, and Sohlberg’s vote carried the result.

The committee’s table lists Likud 27, Yashar 21, B’Yachad 12, the Joint List 11, the Democrats 8, Ra’am 8, Yisrael Beytenu 7, United Torah Judaism 7, Otzma Yehudit 7, Shas 6 and Religious Zionism 6. The committee put turnout at 77.9 percent, with 5,716,665 votes cast. The 19 Arab-party seats are the most those parties have won in one election, by the figures reported on election night.

Gadi Eisenkot, who leads Yashar, said the claim could be used to justify delaying or disqualifying the results. Sohlberg’s written answer kept apart two things Likud had joined: he said the Shin Bet inquiry into suspected foreign interference, which he had asked it to carry out, continues, and that certification does not wait for it.

The committee said the final results go to President Isaac Herzog on 4 November. The committee said Herzog then consults party leaders on whom they recommend as prime minister, and the mandate is expected to go to the candidate with the most recommendations.

Three markers show whether the fraud case outlives certification: a Likud court challenge, a second Likud MK following Halevi out of the committee, and any public finding from the Shin Bet inquiry. The committee’s review of 9,069 polling stations stands until one appears. Netanyahu also enters talks with Washington’s pledge to end US military aid already on the record. Herzog’s question is then which candidate can assemble 61 seats when the committee’s own table gives the pro-Netanyahu bloc 53.