Benjamin Netanyahu’s political bloc has emerged ahead in Israel’s general election, but the results have left the Israeli prime minister facing a familiar problem: winning the most seats does not necessarily mean winning the power to govern.
With neither major bloc securing a parliamentary majority, an unprecedented electoral breakthrough by Arab parties has placed Palestinian citizens of Israel at the centre of the struggle to form the next government. Yet as their political influence grows, so has a campaign of allegations against them, with Netanyahu’s allies raising claims of foreign interference and electoral fraud that remain unproven.
Final results released on Friday showed Netanyahu’s coalition of right-wing and far-right parties winning 53 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, seven short of the majority required to govern.
His Likud party remained the largest individual party, securing 27 seats.
The opposition bloc led by centrist politician Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats, leaving both camps dependent on political negotiations that could determine whether Israel forms a new government or heads towards another election.
The decisive development, however, came from the Arab parties.
According to AFP, the Central Elections Committee confirmed that the United Arab List, known as Ra’am, and the Joint List secured a combined 19 seats, potentially giving them enough parliamentary influence to determine which political camp can form a government.
For Netanyahu, whose political career has repeatedly depended on his ability to navigate fragmented parliamentary coalitions, those results present a difficult challenge.
For the Arab parties, their electoral success has come with immediate political pressure.
The 19 Seats That Could Change Israel’s Government
The Arab parties’ strong performance has created a parliamentary scenario in which the opposition could potentially reach the necessary majority with their support.
But translating that electoral strength into political influence may prove considerably more complicated.
Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen told AFP on Wednesday that he was prepared to cooperate with an opposition-led government to remove Netanyahu from power, although he would not necessarily join such a government directly.
That position could provide Eisenkot with a route towards replacing Netanyahu without requiring Arab parties to become formal members of the governing coalition.
However, Eisenkot has expressed reservations about pursuing such an arrangement, particularly as Netanyahu has sought to mobilise his right-wing Jewish electorate by warning that voting for the opposition would bring Arabs into power.
The political pressure intensified on Thursday.
Jabareen accused Netanyahu of conducting what he described as an “incitement campaign against Arab citizens”, as the prime minister’s political allies amplified allegations concerning the financing of Arab parties.
The controversy has threatened to overshadow what was an unprecedented level of electoral participation among Palestinian citizens of Israel, a community whose members have long complained of being treated as a minority and subjected to discriminatory practices.
From Electoral Breakthrough to Allegations of Fraud
Netanyahu’s camp has attempted to challenge the political momentum of the Arab parties through allegations that they received foreign funding.
The accusations have not been substantiated, but they have rapidly become central to the political dispute surrounding the election results.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu raised allegations of electoral fraud, claiming that envelopes containing cash had been discovered in connection with Arab parties.
He urged his supporters to turn out and vote in response.
Israeli police subsequently announced the arrest of three suspects, while the Central Elections Committee described the incident as unusual.
The allegations drew concern even from politicians opposed to Netanyahu.
Avigdor Lieberman, a right-wing ally of Eisenkot, described the accusations as “serious and unprecedented” and called for a swift investigation.
Israeli police said they would investigate any complaint relating to electoral integrity.
President Isaac Herzog also called for the allegations to be investigated, but warned against stigmatising Israel’s entire Arab community over the accusations.
His intervention came as Arab voters celebrated an electoral performance that could significantly increase their influence over the country’s next government.
The dispute has also introduced further uncertainty into Israel’s political landscape at a time when the region faces the possibility of renewed war with Iran.
Netanyahu’s Likud Declares an Electoral ‘Earthquake’
The allegations escalated when Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who also chairs the Central Elections Committee, asked Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, to investigate claims that Ra’am had received money from Qatar.
Qatar maintains channels of communication with Hamas, a connection that Netanyahu’s political allies have emphasised in their accusations.
Likud went further, presenting the allegations not merely as potential financial irregularities but as evidence of a broader conspiracy against Israel’s political system.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s party described the alleged “Ra’am-gate scandal” as a political earthquake and declared:
“The Israeli elections have been stolen.”
The party alleged that foreign interference was intended to undermine Israeli democracy and overturn right-wing rule.
“This is an assault on democracy, aimed at enabling a foreign entity to take control of the Knesset, Islamise Israel and overthrow right-wing rule,” Likud claimed.
The accusations represented a dramatic escalation in the political confrontation, particularly because they emerged while the allegations remained under investigation.
Shin Bet cautioned that its investigation had not yet concluded.
The agency also stressed that its involvement should not be interpreted as accusing or blaming an entire community that had participated in the election democratically and lawfully.
Arab Parties Reject the Allegations
Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas rejected any suggestion that his party was involved in the alleged financial misconduct.
In a statement issued by his office and obtained by AFP, Abbas said the party had no connection to the matter.
“The United Arab List has no connection whatsoever to the case in question or to any other cases, and we affirm that we will cooperate fully with all law enforcement authorities to uncover the truth,” he said.
Eisenkot, meanwhile, argued that the investigation should proceed independently and without political interference.
He said he had received briefings from Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee, but stressed that the available information did not establish whether any wrongdoing had occurred.
“It is too early to know what happened, or whether anything happened at all,” Eisenkot said.
He nevertheless accused Netanyahu and Likud of using the allegations to challenge the legitimacy of the election results.
“It has become clear that Likud and Netanyahu have launched a coordinated and organised campaign aimed at delegitimising the election results,” he said.
His accusation raised a central question surrounding the controversy: whether the financial allegations would ultimately reveal electoral misconduct or become a political instrument for weakening the Arab parties at a moment when their parliamentary support could determine Netanyahu’s future.
Qatar Rejects Claims of Election Interference
Qatar has categorically rejected allegations that it interfered in Israel’s election or financed activities intended to influence the outcome.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari denied the claims, stating that Doha had not provided funding for any activities designed to affect the election results.
The accusations have also revived questions surrounding Netanyahu’s own political history with Qatar.
Last year, the Israeli prime minister faced controversy after two of his aides were arrested over allegations that they had received money from the Gulf state.
Netanyahu himself had, for years, implicitly supported Qatari financial assistance to the Gaza Strip while the territory was governed by Hamas.
That arrangement was intended to help maintain stability in Gaza, but the approach collapsed following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.
The historical relationship has added another dimension to the present controversy, with Netanyahu’s party now portraying alleged Qatari financial involvement in Arab political activity as a threat to Israeli democracy.
Qatar, however, maintains that it played no role in influencing the election.
A Victory Without a Majority
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has held power for more than 19 years across several periods in office, building a reputation for political manoeuvring and an ability to survive difficult coalition negotiations.
This election has presented him with another complicated parliamentary equation.
His political bloc has finished ahead of the opposition, but its 53 seats are insufficient to secure a governing majority.
Eisenkot’s opposition has 48 seats, while the Arab parties collectively hold 19 seats that could prove decisive.
Whether those seats translate into political leverage will depend not only on the willingness of the opposition to cooperate with Arab representatives, but also on the outcome of the investigations and the political campaign surrounding them.
Once the official results have been published, President Isaac Herzog will select the politician tasked with attempting to form Israel’s next government.
For now, Netanyahu has won the largest parliamentary bloc, but the question of who will govern Israel remains unresolved.
