Israel’s Central Election Committee (CEC) has asked the Shin Bet to investigate allegations made by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud Party of widespread voter fraud backed by a “foreign power” in this week’s general election.
With 90 per cent of votes counted, Likud was projected to be the largest single party, but neither its coalition nor that of the opposition was expected to win a majority.
Opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot could secure power with an anti-Netanyahu coalition incorporating both his bloc’s projected 53 seats and the 19 predicted to be won by the Arab-Israeli parties, Ra’am and the Joint List.
However, in a statement the day after the election, Likud claimed that the significant improvement in the Arab parties’ electoral fortunes was based on voter fraud.
“The elections in the State of Israel were stolen by Arab parties that support terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state through serious criminal offences of bribery, threats, violence, forgeries, and the use of prohibited software to mobilise voters,” the party claimed.
“This is a serious blow to Israeli democracy and the voting rights of Israeli citizens. The law enforcement agencies must act with an iron fist and in an immediate manner.”
It also urged opposition leaders not to countenance a coalition, saying: “This is an attack on democracy whose purpose is to lead to a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamisation of Israel, and the overthrow of right-wing rule in order to lead to retreat and defeat of the IDF in all arenas - and primarily Iran…
“It is clear that no Zionist party should cooperate with Ra'am and the Joint List, replace the Knesset Speaker through votes bought for cash, and form a government that is dangerous to Israel.”
The CEC confirmed that it had received a package of evidence from Likud, with its chair, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, revealing that this included alleged “funding provided by foreign entities acting against Israeli interests”.
While he said he could not “attest to the substance of these suspicions,” he said that “given they involve foreign entities, there is an obligation to investigate them thoroughly”.
The committee did not give any further detail on which entities were allegedly responsible; Netanyahu’s subsequent posts on social media have heavily implied that Likud suspects Qatari involvement.
Meanwhile, Eisenkot joined the calls for a full investigation, saying that this should be done “thoroughly, immediately, and without bias,” but also accused Likud of running an “illegitimate influence campaign” fuelled by “lies, manipulation of public opinion, and the spread of chaos” aiming to create a “false narrative of illegitimacy” around the result.
The Israel Police initially issued a statement saying there was “no investigative or intelligence-based supporting evidence” for the claims of widespread fraud and that “election day passed with very few irregular incidents concerning the integrity of the election, even when compared to previous elections”.
However, the force appeared to walk back on its position in a later statement from Commissioner Daniel Levy, who said police would “guard the purity of the elections with all its might”.
“Any complaint received and any suspicion of committing an offence related to the purity of the elections will be examined and investigated thoroughly and impartially,” he added.
“We will not allow anyone to harm the purity of the elections and the democratic process.”
It later confirmed that four men had been arrested on Thursday morning in connection with an investigation into alleged bribery of voters, though it is not known whether this is linked to Likud’s claims.
Ra’am has confirmed that the men are party activists and denied the allegations against them.
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