This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot on Thursday [accused] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to delay the announcement of election results and undermine the legitimacy of the incoming Knesset, as complaints of foreign interference in the vote triggered a political dispute, Anadolu reports.
In a statement, Eisenkot accused Netanyahu and his allies of carrying out an “improper influence operation” aimed at delaying the results beyond their scheduled announcement and creating pretexts to delegate the work of the incoming Knesset.
He also called for a “comprehensive, immediate and impartial investigation” into suspected “foreign interference.”
The dispute followed a letter sent Thursday by Judge Noam Sohlberg, the chair of Israel’s election committee, to Shin Bet security agency chief David Zini asking him to investigate “serious suspicions” of “hostile” foreign influence on the election in favor of Arab parties, Haaretz daily reported.
Netanyahu’s Likud party seized on the request, saying no Zionist party should cooperate with the United Arab List or the Joint List, the two Arab parties.
“Following the exposure of attempts by foreign entities to take over the Knesset, no Zionist party may cooperate with the United Arab List or the Joint List,” the party said in a statement.
READ: Over 29,000 double-envelope ballots counted in Israeli election, around 6% of total
Both blocs fall short of governing majority
Likud also said Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a member of the party, should not be replaced by votes “bought with money,” and that no government posing a danger to Israel should be formed.
Eisenkot said foreign interference was “unacceptable and extremely serious,” particularly when it involves a country that “funds and supports Hamas,” echoing complaints concerning Qatar.
Doha has repeatedly said its aid is directed to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and is provided with the knowledge of Israel and the UN.
Eisenkot also accused Netanyahu of responding to political developments with “lies, manipulation of public opinion, and the spread of chaos.”
With all regular ballots counted, Netanyahu’s bloc had secured 53 seats, compared to 48 for the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot, while Arab parties won a combined 19 seats.
Neither main bloc reached the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset, leaving Arab judges potentially pivotal in efforts to form a government.
The new Knesset is expected to be sworn in on Nov. 10, while the official election results are due to be announced next Wednesday.
READ: Israeli channel reports proposed Netanyahu-Eisenkot power-sharing deal
- Floods kill 5, including 4 children, leave 5 missing in Syria
- Qatar denies interfering in Israeli elections
- Beyond Netanyahu: what Israel’s election means for Palestinians
- Belgian universities challenge EU Commission’s position on Israeli academic cooperation
- Iranian president says regional countries can ensure security without US involvement
- Over 233,000 double-envelope ballots counted in Israeli election, nearly 50% of total
- Gaza Fishermen Recycle 50-Year-Old Cement from the Sea
- America’s hegemonic gamble: how a third war could push Iran towards nuclear weapons
- Israeli opposition leader Eisenkot accuses Netanyahu of seeking to delay election results
- Lebanese president urges end to Israeli attacks, warns against military solution
- Declared 38 years ago, denied since: the Algiers Declaration remains a milestone in the Palestinian struggle
- Yemen escalation kills nearly 1,700, injures over 7,000 since August: UN agency
- Israel Can’t Vote Its Way Out of Apartheid | Palestine This Week
- Shell profits double as Middle East conflict pushes up energy prices
- Israel continues raids in occupied West Bank, arrests 13 Palestinians
- Israel kills 4 Palestinians in strike on government post in Gaza despite ceasefire
- Over 29,000 double-envelope ballots counted in Israeli election, around 6% of total
- Podcast by Jasim Al-Azzawi with John Fozzei Miller: Why Strategists Think Trump Has Lost The War?
- Iran’s army says it downed MQ-1 drone east of Strait of Hormuz
- Sudan accuses Ethiopia of allowing drone attacks to be launched from its territory
- Over 135,000 displaced in Yemen’s Taiz province in 2 months: Minister
- Israeli channel reports proposed Netanyahu-Eisenkot power-sharing deal
- Qatar-led mediators push for US-Iran deal to avert new strikes: Report
- Israeli forces demolish residential building, bulldoze land in Bethlehem’s al-Walaja
- Kuwait summons Iranian ambassador after Tehran denies assassination plot
- Joint Arab List ready to help bring down Netanyahu government
- Barghouti says Israeli election results show sharp shift towards extremism and fascism
- Trump appoints Biden-era official to Gaza Board of Peace
- Trump pressures Netanyahu to exclude Ben-Gvir and paves way for unity government
- Putin says trade turnover with Egypt ‘growing steadily’ despite regional tensions
- ‘Not acceptable’: UN rights chief slams US sanctions on world body’s rapporteur
- Ethiopia receives 12 Russian Su-35 fighter jets, plans to acquire S-400 air defenses
- Iranian foreign minister says Tehran in talks with mediators to implement 7-day plan with US
- Yemeni army claims 239 Houthis neutralized in 749 operations over 24 hours
- World Food Program chief calls Gaza hunger ‘unacceptable’; vows to protect aid workers
- Syria summons Jordanian ambassador for ‘deadly’ airstrikes in Daraa
- Sudan accuses over 20 countries of involvement in ongoing war
- Former US officials who resigned over Gaza urge 2028 presidential candidates to reject architects of Biden-era policy
- Canadian advocates, academics urge reassessment of refused study permits for Palestinian students from Gaza
- Israeli president urges every effort to avoid another election
- Israeli military demolishes homes of two Palestinian prisoners in West Bank village of Beita
- Israel’s final election results expected Thursday evening: Election official
- Iraq, Syria discuss oil exports via Baniyas pipeline with capacity of 2M barrels per day
- Meet the shortlisted authors of Palestine Book Awards 2026
- Up to 50,000 flee Ethiopia clashes into Kenya, urgently need aid: UN refugee agency
- Indonesia should stop selling palm oil to Israel
- Houthis call for evacuation of Yemen’s Aden airport amid escalation
- Arab Joint List extends hand to Eisenkot’s bloc to oust Netanyahu gov’t
- Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold silent protest in Netherlands’ Utrecht for 111 weeks
- Thinking a possible Netanyahu departure changes anything? Think again.
