They are doing this because they lost,
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party has amplified unsubstantiated allegations that Arab-led parties had “stolen” the election, potentially with foreign help, as final results showed his bloc had lost its majority in parliament. The opposition accused Netanyahu of demonising the Arab population after a historic showing by Arab-led parties in an attempt to delegitimise the election.
Results released by election officials showed Netanyahu’s bloc winning 53 seats in the 120-member assembly, well below the 68 seats it had controlled at its peak in the previous parliament. His main opposition won 48 seats and Arab-led parties secured the other 19. The count is complete, but the results still need to be certified and submitted to the country’s president next Wednesday.
The head of Israel’s election committee, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, said that “serious suspicions” of foreign interference had been brought before him, but he could not verify the claims. Netanyahu’s party responded with an inflammatory statement, claiming without evidence that the alleged election interference was “aimed at facilitating a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamisation of Israel and toppling of the right-wing government”.
Netanyahu’s main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, said Likud was trying to delegitimise the results. “They are doing this because they lost,” he said. The projected outcome of the results was expected to show both Netanyahu’s bloc of religious and nationalist allies and his more secular and socially liberal opponents falling short of a parliamentary majority required to form a new government. The Arab parties would hold the remaining seats and could potentially give Eisenkot the backing he needs to oust Netanyahu.
The developments have amplified the difficult decisions for the weeks ahead, including whether some Jewish and Arab parties would team up in a historic alliance, or whether some parties that campaigned on ousting Netanyahu would toss that aside and join forces with him. If Netanyahu loses office, that would set off a cascade of events that critics say he has desperately sought to avoid, including being taken to account over years-long corruption allegations.
