The Israeli Police and the Central Elections Commission confirmed that there are no concerns about compromising the integrity of the elections, contrary to claims by the Likud party led by Benjamin Netanyahu regarding fraud in the Arab community. The newspaper Yisrael Hayom stated on Wednesday evening that sources confirmed the Commission sees no signs of manipulation, while the police confirmed there is no evidence of such acts.
For his part, the Likud party stated in a statement that the elections were "stolen" by Arab parties supporting terrorism, alleging violations including bribery, threats, and fraud. The party added that it is referring hundreds of statements and evidence to the police, Shin Bet, and the Elections Commission regarding what it described as the "theft of elections" at Arab polling stations.
In the same context, the Israeli Central Elections Commission confirmed on Tuesday that there are no signs of systematic manipulation of ballot papers, noting that individual reports are dealt with immediately. These statements came after preliminary results of counting approximately 90 percent of votes showed Arab parties winning 19 seats in the Knesset.
Channel 12 indicated that Netanyahu's camp secured 53 seats compared to 48 for the opposition led by Eisenkot and 19 for Arab parties, after 88.6 percent of votes were counted. No side was able to secure the majority required to form a government of 61 seats out of 120. The process of counting sealed envelopes, expected to range between 430,000 and 480,000 votes, is scheduled to continue on Thursday morning.
The newspaper added that the voter turnout reached 77.7 percent, an increase of 7.1 percent over the 2022 elections, the highest since 1999. The Likud party won 26 seats, with the "Yesh Atid" party coming second with 21 seats, while the "Meretz" party and the Joint Arab List each won 12 seats.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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