Netanyahu's Likud claims election 'stolen' after losing majority

Jerusalem — Benjamin Netanyahu's party has declared Israel's election "stolen" after final results showed his bloc losing its parliamentary majority, escalating unsubstantiated claims of foreign interference as his opponents weigh a rare alliance with Arab-led parties to remove him.

Results released by election officials on Thursday gave Mr Netanyahu's right-wing and far-right coalition 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, The Hindu reported. The opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats, and Arab-led parties took 19. Likud remains the largest single faction with 27 seats, according to the Japan Times.

Likud ramped up its rhetoric after Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, head of the election committee, said "serious suspicions" of foreign interference had been brought before him. In a letter to the Shin Bet security agency, he said he could not verify the claims but asked the agency to investigate. Likud responded that "the elections in Israel have been stolen", claiming without evidence that interference was aimed at toppling the right-wing government.

Israeli media reported that Likud members were accusing Qatar, which many Israelis view as a patron of Hamas. Qatar denied the allegations, calling them "ridiculous and dangerous". The election commission said the probe was based on classified intelligence but stressed it "does not affect the final results". The Shin Bet said its investigation was not meant to "cast aspersions" on lawful voters, and the committee called allegations of systematic violations "baseless".

Mr Eisenkot said Likud was trying to delegitimise the results. "They are doing this because they lost," he said, adding: "I welcome the fact that Netanyahu is finally condemning Qatari involvement in the State of Israel." The Arab-led Joint List asserted that "Netanyahu is working to steal the election", while Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas welcomed the investigation. President Isaac Herzog called it a "sensitive moment" and warned against tarnishing an entire community.

The results cap a campaign in which, critics say, Likud painted Arab-led parties as a danger to the state. Arab citizens, who make up 20% of the population, turned out in large numbers. Mr Eisenkot has signalled openness, with conditions, to working with Arab-led parties in what would be only the second coalition since 2021 to include them.

The count must be certified by November 4 and submitted to the president, with Shin Bet findings expected within the week. Mr Netanyahu remains in charge while coalition talks play out; if no government emerges, Israelis could face yet another election early next year.