Israel’s electoral commission on Wednesday confirmed the final results of last week’s vote that stripped Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition of its governing majority, rejecting accusations of massive fraud promoted by the prime minister. Main opponent Gadi Eisenkot said Netanyahu had launched a “pogrom against democracy” by trying to stay in power by discrediting valid votes and arming security forces against parties led by Palestinian citizens of Israel. Hours earlier, Israel’s attorney general said he had blocked a demand by the Shin Bet security service to question senior politicians from Palestinian-led parties because he had not been presented with any evidence of wrongdoing. “In a country governed by the rule of law, neither citizens nor elected officials can be questioned without substantiating evidence,” Gali Baharav-Miara said in a statement, after Haaretz reported on the attempt to attack four politicians. Electoral authorities presented the final results to President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday after rejecting accusations that they had been tainted by large-scale foreign interference and electoral fraud. “The review found no evidence of irregularities that compromised the integrity of the elections or affected their results,” the Central Election Committee said in a statement. People take part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv calling on the opposition to form a government with Palestinian-led parties after last week’s general elections. Photograph: Jamal Awad/Reuters The body’s president, Noam Sohlberg, said some “suspicions” were still being investigated but “they do not cast doubt on the elections as a whole or justify the delay of the election results.” When the results were delivered, Herzog denounced racist attacks against Palestinian citizens who had turned out to vote in a historic percentage. “I condemn the rudeness and racist expressions we have heard recently,” he said. “I have great respect for Arab society in Israel. I value their contribution to the country in all walks of life and their desire to integrate.” Herzog will play a key role in forming the next government by choosing which politician has the first chance to create a coalition. He is expected to name Eisenkot, and the announcement could come as soon as Thursday night. Late Wednesday, the Palestinian group Ra’am said it would recommend that Eisenkot form the next government. The largest Palestinian group, the Joint List, has said its priority is to topple Netanyahu and is expected to back Eisenkot as the strongest contender to do so. Eisenkot, a former Israeli army leader who lost his son fighting in Gaza, has secured the public support of all Jewish opposition parties in Israel. However, negotiations could take weeks and Eisenkot warned of ongoing attempts to undermine confidence in the election results. He accused Netanyahu of weaponizing the security services against his domestic opponents in an effort to stay in power. Gadi Eisenkot has secured the public support of all Israeli Jewish opposition parties. Photograph: Paulina Patimer/JNA/Zuma Press/Shutterstock “Employees of the Ministry of Defense, law enforcement and public administration in Israel are servants of the State, not the king,” he said in a statement. “Woe to anyone who abuses their authority and role for political considerations.” Shin Bet chief David Zini, hand-picked by Netanyahu, had ordered the interrogations and sought to classify the investigation as a security file, which would have allowed harsher conditions, including a ban on politicians having legal advice. Nadav Eyal, an Israeli journalist and commentator, said the public should prepare for more extreme attempts to overturn the election results and discredit the main opposition parties. “The groundwork is constant. “What you are hearing is breaking down right now is the foundation of the legal and governmental order in Israel.” Netanyahu presided over a racist campaign targeting Israel’s Palestinian citizens – around 20% of the population – and on election day began promoting baseless accusations of mass fraud now rejected by electoral authorities. Ahmad Tibi, one of the most prominent and effective Palestinian politicians, was reported to be among those the Shin Bet attempted to interrogate. He responded to the latest accusations, when news broke of the Democrats’ sweeping victories in the US midterm elections, with an attack on Netanyahu’s fear of democracy.[The] “The attorney general is checking suspicions of links between the Joint List and Democrats in the United States,” Tibi wrote in a social media post. “According to suspicions, in both cases the same sophisticated method was used: people arrived en masse at the polling stations, made a detour and went home.”
