Israel’s opposition accuses Netanyahu of delegitimizing election results

Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot and representatives of Arab parties state that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is conducting a coordinated and organized campaign to undermine the legitimacy of the elections. According to the opposition, Netanyahu began speaking about foreign interference after his political bloc lost its parliamentary majority. Left-wing candidate Yair Golan accuses Netanyahu of attempting to stir up trouble after failing to secure a majority. 1TV+2

The Likud party states that Arab parties "stole" the election and were paying voters in exchange for their votes. Based on an appeal from the head of the Central Election Commission, Israel's internal security service Shin Bet is investigating whether Arab parties received illegal funding from Qatar and Turkey. The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the accusations, calling them "ridiculous," "dangerous," and "devoid of common sense." 1TV+1

According to the final election results, in the 120-seat Knesset, Netanyahu's bloc has 53 mandates and Eisenkot's bloc has 48, while Arab parties won a record 19 mandates. Media outlets explain that this result was caused by an increase in activity among Arab voters. According to Netanyahu's critics, by questioning the legitimacy of the Arab parties, the Prime Minister is trying to make it politically impossible for Eisenkot to cooperate with them, which is the only way for the opposition to come to power. 1TV+2