Likud Claims Election Stolen Via Criminal Acts by Arab Parties

The Likud party has issued a strong accusation, claiming that the recent Israeli election was "stolen" through a series of serious criminal offenses allegedly committed by Arab parties. The party is demanding an immediate investigation by law enforcement agencies, presenting what they describe as evidence of severe violations impacting the integrity of the vote. According to a Likud statement, these alleged offenses include bribery, threats, violence, fraud, and the use of prohibited software to encourage voters.

The Likud party stated it has submitted hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence to the police, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and the Central Elections Committee. These allegedly detail election theft at numerous Arab polling stations, citing issues such as thousands of ballots found with cash and Ra'am party slips, threats and violence against poll workers, multiple voters behind the curtain, double voting, discrepancies between ballot counts and voter numbers, and the use of illegal stimulant software.

The party is calling for a thorough investigation by the police and Shin Bet into the alleged election theft by Arab parties and for the perpetrators to be prosecuted. They also demand an immediate response from the Central Elections Committee regarding the investigation of these criminal offenses, which they claim have severely damaged the integrity and results of the Israeli election.

These accusations come in the wake of dramatic election results, which saw a national turnout of nearly 78%, a 50-year high. Preliminary results, before the counting of double envelopes, indicated Netanyahu's bloc with 53 seats, the "change bloc" with 48, and Arab parties with 19 seats, leaving no bloc with the required 61 seats for a majority.

Notably, a report from five days prior indicated that Likud was preemptively preparing for claims of fraud and irregularities in Arab communities' polling stations even before the election took place. The party had reportedly examined issues concerning the identification of veiled women, separate voting hours for the Bedouin population, and the age of election integrity monitors. However, the report stated that evidence of the described fraud was not presented, and existing procedures address some of the examined issues. This prior report emerged amid Likud and other parties' preparations to station observers at polling stations in Arab towns to increase oversight of the voting process.