Israeli police find no evidence backing Netanyahu party’s election fraud claims: Report

By Zein Khalil and Tarek Chouiref

ISTANBUL (AA) – Israeli police have found no evidence supporting election fraud allegations by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, while the Central Elections Committee sees no current grounds for concern over the integrity of the vote, the Israel Hayom daily reported late Wednesday.

Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said the committee’s assessment contradicted Likud’s allegations of fraud at polling stations in Arab communities. Police likewise said there was no evidence to substantiate the allegations, according to the report.

Earlier Wednesday, Likud claimed that Arab parties had “stolen” the election through bribery, intimidation, violence, forgery and the use of prohibited software to mobilize voters.

The party also accused the Arab parties of supporting terrorism and seeking the destruction of the Jewish state.

Likud said it was submitting “hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence” to police, the Shin Bet domestic security agency and the election committee, demanding an investigation.

The committee confirmed that it had received Likud’s complaint and was examining it as part of its routine review of election-integrity complaints from all parties.

Likud’s allegations came as the predominantly Arab parties, Ra’am and the Joint List, were projected to secure a record combined 19 seats, leaving both Netanyahu’s bloc and its main rival short of a parliamentary majority.

On Tuesday, the election committee said there were no indications of systematic ballot tampering and that individual reports were being addressed immediately, according to The Times of Israel.

With nearly 90% of the votes counted, Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to win 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 48 for the bloc led by Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot.

Neither bloc had reached the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.

The figures remained provisional, with hundreds of thousands of “double-envelope” ballots, including votes cast by soldiers and diplomats, still awaiting counting.