Netanyahu accuses Arab voters of election theft

Summarised from 2 outlets · 3 reports · Updated 28 Oct, 22:32 · Archive

Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Arab-led parties of stealing Israel's elections through criminal offences.

Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Arab-led parties of stealing Israel's elections. In posts on social media, Netanyahu and his Likud party claimed the elections were stolen "through serious criminal offences of bribery, threats, violence, forgeries and the use of prohibited software to mobilise voters". They also accused the parties of "supporting terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state". Netanyahu said Likud was sending "hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence regarding election theft in many Arab polling stations" to the police, the Central Elections Committee and Israel's security agency.

Arab party leaders rejected the accusations as a political tactic. Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List, denounced Netanyahu's comments as a "scare tactic to mobilise right-wing voters and drive them to the polls". Yousef Jabareen, leader of the Joint List, said Netanyahu was attempting to boost his electoral prospects. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, reported that it had received numerous reports from Arab voters of attempts to discourage them from casting their ballots, and said queues at polling stations in Arab-majority towns were moving very slowly or had stopped altogether. It also reported a lack of ballot slips printed in Arabic and said it had reported the events to Israel's Central Elections Committee.

According to most ballots counted, Netanyahu's coalition has more seats than the opposition, with Likud and its allies set to win 53 seats in the 120-seat parliament compared to 48 for the opposition bloc. Arab-led parties are projected to win 19 seats, potentially giving them a decisive role in government formation. Israel's Central Elections Committee stated it had received Likud's complaint and would examine the claims.

How it is being reported

• Netanyahu says Israel's election 'stolen' by Arab groups in claim straight from Trump playbookThe unsubstantiated allegations attack an Arab electorate that took just 19 seats in the 120-seat parliament — a small minority of the total vote.The Mirror · 28 Oct, 22:20
• Netanyahu: Coalition with Arab parties would be ‘shameful’Netanyahu has called the prospect of working with Arab parties to form a government ‘a disgrace and a shame’.Al Jazeera · 28 Oct, 02:26
• Arab parties in Israel accuse Netanyahu of inciting hatred to scare votersIn one social media post, PM Netanyahu accused Arab voters of 'raiding the polling stations and stealing the elections'.Al Jazeera · 27 Oct, 18:11

In this story: Benjamin Netanyahu · Mansour Abbas · Yousef Jabareen · Likud · Israel · Adalah

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log