Netanyahu's election battle intensifies as Likud threatens to reject results - exclusive

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was advised to vote against certifying the election results due to suspicions of electoral fraud in the Arab community, during a meeting on Sunday, i24NEWS has learned.

According to people present in the room, Likud MK Amit Halevi, who represents Likud on the Central Elections Committee, recommended voting against the election results because the allegations are still under investigation.

The Religious Zionist Party has also not decided whether to approve the results, while Otzma Yehudit said it would vote against certifying the results.

Meanwhile, Likud is demanding that the Central Elections Committee convene before approving the election results to assess the extent of the suspected irregularities. If the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Sohlberg, does not grant Likud attorney Ilan Bombach’s request to hold a hearing, the party intends to oppose certification of the election results at Wednesday’s meeting.

Likud’s demand to convene the election committee comes amid suspicions of foreign interference and improper influence on the election, which were reported by Justice Sohlberg. In a letter submitted by Bombach, the committee’s presidium was asked to convene urgently to receive details was asked to convene urgently and receive details from the head of the Shin Bet about the nature and scope of the suspicions and the progress of the investigation—before the election results are certified.

In addition, Sohlberg issued a joint statement on Sunday with Shin Bet chief David Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, clarifying that the elections for the elections for the 26th Knesset had proceeded normally and that the results reflected the will of voters.

He said that serious allegations of foreign funding intended to influence the elections were under investigation, but that at this stage there was no basis for claiming that the information held by the authorities could change the overall results. Solberg stressed that the suspicions were still being investigated and that solid evidence was required to challenge the election results.

Sohlberg later clarified that the Central Elections Committee has no authority to withhold approval of the results and that its role is limited to tabulating the results.

The remarks came after Netanyahu claimed that the election had been “stolen” and that foreign interference and voting irregularities in the Arab community had affected the results. Likud claimed that a shift of just 4,612 votes could have changed the distribution of Knesset seats between Ra’am and the right-wing bloc.