Israel vote results confirmed as election commission rejects fraud claims

Israel’s Central Elections Committee has certified the results of last week’s general election after finding no evidence of fraud, a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to discredit the vote. The results were submitted to President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday, who will now hold two days of consultations with party leaders before choosing the candidate best placed to form a coalition.

This comes after Netanyahu-led bloc won 53 parliamentary seats in the October 27 vote, while Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc got 48, and the Arab-led parties Ra’am and the Joint List secured a record 19. With neither bloc able attain the majority 61 seats needed to govern in the 120-seat Knesset, Herzog said both sides needed to accept that “not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled” and to avoid new elections.

The election saw soaring support for lists from the Arab minority, descendants of Palestinians who stayed in Israel after its 1948 creation and who have largely been outraged by the harsh rhetoric and actions of Netanyahu’s hard-right government.