Israel: Central Elections Committee says the result stands even if foreign interference is confirmed, as Likud talks of “stolen” elections

The head of Israel’s Central Elections Committee, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, said the result of the October 27 election will stand even if allegations of foreign interference are proven. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud has challenged the vote, claiming without evidence that the Arab parties, which made big gains, “stole” the election with money from Qatar.

“Our position is that even if the suspicions are confirmed, this will not harm the integrity of the electoral process or the result of the election as a whole,” Mr Sohlberg said in a video on Sunday, November 1. Standing beside him in the same video were the head of the Shin Bet internal security service and the head of the attorney general’s office. The Shin Bet is investigating the allegations of foreign interference at the Elections Committee’s request. Likud responded immediately, asking how the committee’s head acknowledges that there are serious allegations and at the same time says they will not affect the final result. Qatar denies funding any effort to influence the election and speaks of a disinformation campaign.

The arrests and the cash envelopes

Likud cites, among other things, the arrest of three political activists before the polls opened, with envelopes full of cash that police say were meant for buying votes. Two days later police arrested four more suspects. On Sunday a judge questioned or rejected police requests for stricter restrictions on the first three: one was released on conditions, the second will remain under house arrest for eight days and the detention of the third was extended by two days. Police link the suspects to the Islamist party Raam, which won eight seats and denies any involvement. Its leader Mansour Abbas called the arrests undemocratic and an “attempt to influence the election result”. We covered the Turkish and Qatari reaction in our earlier report.

The deadlock in the Knesset

Mr Netanyahu’s alliance fell to 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, from a peak of 68 in the outgoing parliament. The bloc of his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, won 48 seats and the three Arab parties 19 in total, a record. Mr Eisenkot, who has ruled out cooperating with the Arab parties, would have a comfortable majority of 67 seats with them. On Sunday he accused Mr Netanyahu of launching an “organised and well-planned campaign to challenge the legitimacy of the election result” and said the Shin Bet had briefed him on the investigation. Mr Netanyahu has hinted that it would be treason for Mr Eisenkot to cooperate with the Arab parties.

The result will be officially ratified within the week, and President Isaac Herzog will begin meetings with all the parties of the new Knesset on Wednesday, November 4. He will then task the candidate with the best chance with forming a government, most likely Mr Netanyahu or Mr Eisenkot. If the negotiations fail, Mr Herzog can instruct another candidate, otherwise the country will be heading to new elections early next year.