“Israeli” Elections Committee Announces Final Knesset Results

By Staff, Agencies

The “Israeli” Central Elections Committee has published the final results of the election, and party leaders are now fighting over what they mean.

“Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's “Likud” finished first with 27 seats, followed by Gadi Eisenkot’s “Yashar” with 21, and Naftali Bennett’s “B’Yachad” with 12.

Netanyahu’s bloc ended with 53 seats against 48 for Eisenkot’s bloc and 19 for the Arab parties, the Joint List and “Ra’am”.
Netanyahu is eight seats short of a 61-seat majority and Eisenkot 13, on turnout of 77.9%.

The official results go to the “Israeli” President Isaac Herzog on November 4, and the Knesset is sworn in on November 10.
Netanyahu told Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich that “we are together and we are staying together,” The ‘Times of Israel’ reported, and has said he will form a strong right-wing government.

“Likud” has said it will neither serve under Eisenkot nor change its leader. Sources in US President Donald Trump’s circle told Ynet that Washington does not want Ben-Gvir in the next government, though a US official called reports that Trump prefers any specific coalition “false and premature.”

“Likud” then claimed that Arab parties “stole” the election through alleged bribery, threats and forgery, saying it will give police and the Shin Bet “hundreds of testimonies.”

The head of the Central Elections Committee asked the “Shin Bet” to investigate “serious suspicions” of foreign interference, and Likud claimed that Qatar is the source of funds for Arab get-out-the-vote groups. Qatar called the claims “ridiculous and dangerous.”

Police eventually rejected the broader claim that the election was stolen, saying there was no supporting evidence, and the committee’s acting director emphasized that the vote was lawful. 

Eisenkot said in a video message that “Likud and Netanyahu have embarked on a coordinated, organized campaign seeking to delegitimize the results of the election,” and warned against exploiting the investigation to delay the Knesset’s swearing-in.

He stressed that he does not want Arab parties’ support and is not asking for it. Netanyahu’s critics see the fraud claims as an attempt to make it politically impossible for Eisenkot to cooperate with the Arab parties, his bloc’s only route to 61.

Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen called the claims a “racist blood libel,” saying “Netanyahu refuses to come to terms with the fact that the Arab public voted, influenced, and decided.”

The Joint List says it is ready to pave the way for removing the Netanyahu government, and Ahmad Tibi called Likud’s allegations the words of “sore losers.”

Meanwhile, Ra’am’s Mansour Abbas said the record result is due to Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and an “Israeli” government that neglected the Arab community.