Netanyahu's Likud Alleges 'Vote Theft' After Arab Parties' Record Success in Israel Election

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has alleged vote theft after the historic success of Arab parties in Israel's general election. The allegation came after ballot results suggested the Arab parties could emerge as kingmakers in forming a government.

Alleging widespread vote fraud and intimidation, Likud demanded an investigation by the police and the Shin Bet intelligence agency.

The Times of Israel reported that in Tuesday's election, the Arab-led political parties Ra'am and the Joint List won a record amount of votes. According to projections, they could win a record 19 seats in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, almost double their current combined 10 seats.

The rise of the Arab parties means that in the 120-member Knesset, both Netanyahu's bloc and the opposing Jewish-led parties would fall well short of the 61 seats needed to form a government.

However, there is discussion in political circles that Netanyahu's main rival Gadi Eisenkot could form a government with Arab support. Since the election campaign, Netanyahu and Likud have consistently tried to question such a possibility of forming a government with Arabs.

In a statement on Wednesday, Likud claimed that Israel's election was stolen by the Arab parties, which it accused of supporting terrorism and the destruction of the Jewish state. The statement further alleged that the Arab parties committed serious criminal offences such as bribery, threats, violence, fraud and the use of illegal software to mobilise voters.

Likud also said it had submitted hundreds of pieces of evidence to the police, Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee (CEC). The allegations include envelopes with cash, fake votes and violence at polling stations.

Although Likud demanded a proper investigation, a CEC official had earlier rejected the fraud claim in an interview with television Channel 12. The CEC said in a statement that, as in every election, it is examining parties' complaints about alleged flaws in election transparency or results in accordance with the rules.

However, Hebrew media in Israel had reported before the vote that if Likud failed to win the seats it needed, the party had planned to challenge results in Arab areas and claim the election was stolen.

By Wednesday evening, more than 85 percent of votes had been counted. According to the results, the Joint List won 12 seats and Ra'am 7 seats. On the other hand, Netanyahu's bloc is set to win 53 seats and Eisenkot and his allies 48 seats.

Amid this political deadlock, Ra'am's second-ranking leader Yoav Segalovitz said his party wants to be part of the next coalition government. However, whoever is nominated as prime minister must take the interests of Arab voters into consideration.

Meanwhile, the opposition left-wing Democrats party made a rare call for a Jewish-Arab coalition to break the political deadlock. Its leader Yair Golan called on members of the pro-change bloc to move away from opposing a coalition with Ra'am and the Joint List.