Netanyahu calls Israeli election stolen as officials defend final count

The count holds.

Noam Sohlberg, the head of Israel's Central Elections Committee, declared on Sunday that the general election results remain valid. He stated that even if suspicions of external meddling are confirmed, the integrity of the process and the final tally will not be undermined. Sohlberg made these remarks in a video alongside the head of the Shin Bet security agency and the attorney general.

Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu's Likud party has challenged the outcome. The party claimed that Arab-led groups stole the vote and accepted funding from Qatar. Netanyahu's bloc did not provide evidence for these accusations. Qatar rejected the claims, labeling them a disinformation campaign.

Police released two of three activists arrested before polling stations opened on Tuesday. The officers said the suspects carried envelopes of cash intended to bribe voters. One suspect was released on unspecified terms, while the other remains on house arrest. Police linked the men to the Ra'am party, which secured eight seats in the legislature.

Mansour Abbas, the leader of Ra'am, called the arrests undemocratic. He described them as an attempt to influence the final numbers. Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of running an orchestrated campaign to delegitimize the results on Sunday.

The vote created a political deadlock. Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats, while Eisenkot's opposition bloc took 48. Neither group can command a majority in the 120-seat parliament. The three Arab-led parties won a record 19 seats. A coalition between Eisenkot and these parties would yield 67 seats, a comfortable majority, though such an alliance is politically difficult for many Israelis.

President Isaac Herzog must nominate a government formation candidate once the results are officially certified this week.