{"id":3504,"date":"2026-10-29T20:03:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T15:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3504"},"modified":"2026-10-29T20:03:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T15:03:58","slug":"netanyahu-at-risk-of-losing-power-steps-up-attacks-on-israels-arab-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3504","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu, at risk of losing power, steps up attacks on Israel’s Arab parties"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Benjamin Netanyahu alleged on Thursday, without providing evidence, that Arab parties\u2019 record gains in an election this week were driven in part by voter \u200bfraud, a charge rejected by Arab leaders who accused the premier of incitement.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The allegation represents an escalation of anti-Arab rhetoric by Netanyahu and his far-right partners after high Arab turnout in a national ballot on Tuesday effectively blocked a smooth path to power for either him or his main Jewish rivals.<\/p>\n

Israeli election officials said on Thursday that there was a probe into fraud allegations, though the election\u2019s integrity was not \u201csystematically compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analysts and critics say that by stepping up attacks on Arab parties, Netanyahu may be trying to ensure his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, feels unable to even consider forming a minority government with Arab help that could oust him from power.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s goal is \u201cdelegitimising any \u200bArab-Jewish cooperation\u201d, said Eytan Gilboa, professor of politics at Reichman University.<\/p>\n

Election officials were expected to finish tallying votes later on Thursday, in a tightly fought election that has produced no clear winner \u200band is likely to be followed by weeks of protracted negotiations over a new government.<\/p>\n

With nearly 93% of votes counted, Netanyahu\u2019s nationalist-religious bloc held a modest lead \u2060in seats over a bloc of right-wing and centre-left parties led by Eisenkot, with both men\u2019s coalitions short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in parliament.<\/p>\n

Parties representing Israel\u2019s 21% Arab minority were projected \u200bto win an unprecedented 19 seats, leaving Eisenkot\u2019s bloc with 48 seats against Netanyahu\u2019s camp of 53, with no realistic path to power without broad Arab backing, an option Eisenkot has so far ruled out.<\/p>\n

However, Eisenkot\u2019s \u200bcamp could also try to form a minority government with Arab support from the outside, without including them in a governing coalition.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Netanyahu accuses Arab parties of Fraud; Arab parties call it incitement<\/h3>\n

Ahmad Tibi, one of the leaders of the Arab Joint List party, said Netanyahu was on an orchestrated, toxic campaign meant to undermine the election results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis entire campaign is directed against Eisenkot, to prevent him, intimidate and scare him off forming a government that relies on external support from the Joint List or \u200bRa\u2019am,\u201d Tibi told Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n

During and after Tuesday\u2019s election, Netanyahu and his allies warned against rising Arab turnout,<\/u> and his right-wing Likud party issued statements accusing the Arab parties of \u201cstealing the vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

It demanded that police and the Shin \u200bBet domestic intelligence service investigate incidents of suspected election bribery and intimidation at ballot stations in Arab towns. It said it possessed evidence of such activity but has not presented it to the public.<\/p>\n

The police say they have arrested at \u200cleast seven \u2060people since Tuesday in Israel\u2019s south, where many Arabs live, on suspicion of voter fraud. Israel\u2019s public broadcaster Kan said they were suspected of attempting to bribe voters to cast ballots for the Arab-dominated party Ra\u2019am, which has Islamist roots.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the head of Israel\u2019s Central Election Committee, Supreme Court jurist Noam Sohlberg, said he had asked the Shin Bet to investigate suspicions that unidentified foreign players had tried to intervene in the election.<\/p>\n

Likud seized on Sohlberg\u2019s request, alleging an attack on Israel\u2019s democracy, \u201can Islamisation of Israel and the toppling of the right-wing in order to bring about IDF withdrawal and defeat on all fronts, foremost Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Likud said Qatar was \u200bbehind the alleged election intervention, which Qatar later denied.<\/p>\n

Ra\u2019am head \u200bMansour Abbas said on Thursday his party was \u2060not involved in the reported suspicious conduct and urged a full investigation. He said that Netanyahu was on an incitement campaign against Israel\u2019s Arab citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have one message in response to the campaign of incitement and delegitimisation he is waging against Arab citizens: Nothing will come of it, because there is nothing there,\u201d Abbas \u200bsaid in a statement.<\/p>\n

In a letter sent to a parliamentarian and published by the Central Election Committee, the committee said that there was \u201cno basis for \u200bclaims that there was systematic \u2060harm to the election\u2019s integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>Israeli president: \u2018We must not tarnish an entire community\u2019<\/h3>\n

After vote tallying is completed, President Isaac Herzog will consult with party chairs and choose a candidate who he thinks has the best chance to form a government.<\/p>\n

The coalition that last toppled Netanyahu, in 2021, relied on Abbas\u2019 Ra\u2019am party. But Eisenkot\u2019s underperformance means the opposition would now need backing from the Arab-dominated Joint List, which includes an explicitly anti-Zionist party. Most Jewish leaders have shunned \u2060formal alliances with \u200bArab parties since Israel\u2019s founding.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot called for an investigation that would protect election integrity but said Netanyahu was exploiting the suspicions \u200bto \u201cspread chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said in a statement that Netanyahu aimed to \u201cchallenge the official election results, in which the Israeli public voted against the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herzog said the allegations must be investigated.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even at a moment like this, we must not tarnish an entire community that \u200bsought to exercise its right to vote and take an active part in democracy,\u201d Herzog said in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Benjamin Netanyahu alleged on Thursday, without providing evidence, that Arab parties\u2019 record gains in an election this week were driven in part by voter \u200bfraud, a charge rejected by Arab leaders who accused the premier of incitement. The allegation represents an escalation of anti-Arab rhetoric by Netanyahu and his far-right partners after high Arab turnout in a national ballot on Tuesday effectively blocked a smooth path to power for either him or his main Jewish rivals. Israeli election officials said on Thursday that there was a probe into fraud allegations,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}