Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s alliance of right-wing and far-right parties secured 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, emerging as the leading bloc but failing to obtain the majority required to form a government. His Likud party remained the largest single faction with 27 seats.
The opposition alliance, led by centrist politician Gadi Eisenkot, won 48 seats, while Arab political groups Raam and the Joint List secured a combined 19 seats, positioning them as potential kingmakers in the post-election negotiations.
The divided election outcome is expected to trigger challenging coalition talks that could continue for several weeks. Neither major bloc has reached the 61-seat threshold required to form a government, raising the possibility of another election if negotiations fail.
The final results were announced after Netanyahu’s allies spent Thursday circulating unverified claims that Arab-Israeli groups had received foreign funding to influence the election. Both Arab political groupings and Qatar rejected the allegations.
Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, confirmed that it was examining suspected electoral irregularities. However, it clarified that the investigation was not intended to question or blame an entire community that had participated in the vote lawfully and democratically.
The acting director general of the Central Elections Committee, Dean Livne, also dismissed claims of widespread electoral problems, describing suggestions of major irregularities as entirely unfounded.
The controversy largely focused on claims that Raam had received financial support from Qatar, a major Gulf energy producer that maintains communication channels with Hamas, to fund alleged vote-buying activities.
Calling the matter a major political scandal, Netanyahu’s Likud party claimed that Israel’s election had been compromised.
Raam leader Mansour Abbas rejected the accusations and welcomed an investigation into the matter. Meanwhile, the Joint List accused Netanyahu and his allies of running an incitement campaign aimed at undermining the growing political influence of Arab voters.
Government officials have not presented evidence to substantiate the allegations.
Opposition leaders, meanwhile, accused Netanyahu of attempting to weaken public confidence in the election results after failing to secure enough seats to form a government.
Left-wing candidate Yair Golan said Netanyahu was seeking to challenge the election outcome.
Eisenkot said he had received briefings from Shin Bet and the election committee, adding that it was too early to determine whether any wrongdoing had taken place.
However, he alleged that Likud and Netanyahu had launched a coordinated campaign to question the legitimacy of the results.
Netanyahu has also faced previous scrutiny over alleged connections involving Qatar. Last year, two of his aides were arrested over accusations that they had received payments from the Gulf state.
Qatar rejected the latest claims, describing them as “ridiculous and dangerous”.
Yousef Jabareen, head of the Joint List, told AFP that his party was prepared to cooperate with opposition groups to remove Netanyahu from power but would not join an opposition-led government.
During the election, Netanyahu had also raised allegations of fraud, claiming that Arab parties had been caught distributing envelopes containing cash. His Likud party continued promoting these accusations throughout Thursday.
Police confirmed the arrest of three suspects in connection with the matter. However, the election commission described the incident as an isolated case involving a local area.
