Netanyahu's party claims election stolen
The gist
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party claimed Arab parties stole the election, but police found no evidence.
Final results give his bloc 53 seats, leaving no majority for either side.
How it unfolded
- Oct 27, 2026Israel holds elections for the 120-seat Knesset; exit polls indicate Netanyahu's bloc suffered a setback.
- Oct 28, 2026Likud claims Arab parties stole the election through bribery, intimidation, violence, forgery and prohibited software, and says it is submitting hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence to police, Shin Bet and the election committee. Netanyahu gives a statement at Likud's election headquarters in Jerusalem.
- Oct 29, 2026Likud amplifies unsubstantiated allegations that Arab-led parties stole the election, potentially with foreign assistance. Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Central Elections Committee, asks Shin Bet to investigate serious suspicions of foreign interference, saying he could not verify the claims.