Netanyahu alleges foreign interference in Israeli elections

ISRAEL’S far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his party amplified allegations today that the country’s Arab-led parties had “stolen” this week’s general election. Final results look set to confirm that Mr Netanyahu’s bloc has lost its majority in parliament. The opposition accused Mr Netanyahu of demonising Israel’s Arab population after a historic showing by Arab-led parties. If the rest of the opposition teams up with them in a rare and politically risky move, they would form the next government. Mr Netanyahu seized on a new request by the country’s elections committee to the Shin Bet intelligence service to investigate alleged election interference by unspecified “foreign entities against the Israeli interest.” While the request made no reference to Arab-led parties, the prime minister and his Likud party said no political organisation should co-operate with Arab-led ones. “The elections in Israel have been stolen!” Likud said, claiming without evidence that alleged interference was “aimed at facilitating a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamisation of Israel,” an insinuation that Arab citizens’ votes and representatives are illegitimate. It is not clear who made the latest allegations, but Qatar issued a sharp statement, saying: “We categorically deny allegations that Qatar has interfered in Israeli elections or funded any activities intended to influence their outcome,” and adding that it was accused of buying off the Arab vote. Ahead of the election, Mr Netanyahu and Likud painted the Arab-led parties as a danger to Israel. Those campaign attacks, along with anger at the government’s intensifying repression of Arab parties and attacks on Palestinians, drew outraged Arabs to the polls like never before. On Thursday, Democrats party leader Yair Golan accused Mr Netanyahu of “attempting to undermine the election results through an ugly delegitimisation campaign directed against the will of the public — and against the Arab public in particular.” Sami Abu Shehadeh, who chairs one of the parties on the Arab-led Joint List, called the claims “incitement” against Arab-led groups. The leader of the Arab-led Ra’am party, Mansour Abbas, welcomed the investigation into election interference and said his party had nothing to do with the case, while also accusing Mr Netanyahu of a campaign of incitement. Mr Netanyahu’s chief rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, warned that political actors should not “exploit the situation” to influence the timing of the next parliament’s swearing-in, set for November 10. The incumbent premier’s bloc is expected to win 53 parliament seats against 48 seats for opposition parties and 19 for Arab-led ones. An attack on parties and lawmakers before elections represents an open appeal to a racist and fascist agenda argues the left. AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports