Netanyahu’s party claims election ‘stolen’ by ‘foreign entities’

{"text":[[{"start":8.4,"text":"The party of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed this week’s elections were “stolen” after an unprecedented surge in Arab voting prevented his electoral bloc from claiming an outright victory."}],[{"start":20.3,"text":"“The elections in Israel have been stolen!” Netanyahu’s Likud party said in a statement that the premier posted on X, adding that “foreign entities” had sought to take control of the country’s parliament, the Knesset."}],[{"start":33.44,"text":"The claim, made without detailing any evidence, came after the Shin Bet — Israel’s internal security service, which is run by a Netanyahu appointee — made allegations to the chief election commissioner, who is required to certify the official tally. The full Shin Bet allegations have not been publicly released."}],[{"start":51.28,"text":"The commissioner referred the claims back to the Shin Bet to investigate. The claims came despite the agency’s head having said on election day that he had no concerns about the vote’s integrity."}],[{"start":62.74,"text":"Commissioner Noam Sohlberg wrote in a letter released on Thursday: “Grave suspicions have been brought to my attention regarding improper influence on the elections through foreign funding."}],[{"start":72.38,"text":"“Given these suspicions involve external elements . . . I instruct you to do everything in your power to thoroughly investigate . . . to substantiate these suspicions or to refute them.”"}],[{"start":82.12,"text":"Netanyahu’s allies seized on the probe as proof of wrongdoing. His extreme-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, wrote on X: “The leaders of the Arab parties must be interrogated by the Shin Bet — today. The State of Israel will not be sold out to radical Islam through terror funding.”"}],[{"start":99.96,"text":"Arab party figures denied the claims. “There were no violations in the election, and the Likud allegations are the words of sore losers,” Ahmad Tibi, of the Joint List parliamentary bloc, told Al Jazeera."}],[{"start":111.84,"text":"Final results are yet to be released, but with most votes counted, the Arab parties — which include a moderate Islamist party that was part of a previous coalition that temporarily dislodged Netanyahu from power — were projected to win as many as 19 seats, a record high."}],[{"start":127.12,"text":"This would make it impossible for either Netanyahu’s or his rival Gadi Eisenkot’s camp to reach an absolute majority in the 120-seat Knesset."}],[{"start":136.28,"text":"The claims about the validity of the Arab parties’ votes could complicate any attempts by Netanyahu’s Jewish opponents to work with them to dislodge him. They followed a drive by Netanyahu to demonise Arab voters and parties during the election."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":150.32,"text":"Coalition allies of Netanyahu such as his national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, made unsubstantiated claims that foreign money swayed Israel’s Palestinian population to vote at historic levels and pointed the finger at Qatar."}],[{"start":164.2,"text":"Qatar has become a familiar scapegoat for Netanyahu’s allies, who have sought to shift blame for the government’s failures in preventing the October 7 2023 Hamas attacks on to the wealthy Gulf monarchy."}],[{"start":177,"text":"Qatar said the accusations were “ridiculous and dangerous in equal measure”."}],[{"start":180.84,"text":"“We categorically deny allegations that Qatar has interfered in Israeli elections or funded any activities intended to influence their outcome,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on X."}],[{"start":192.64,"text":"Palestinians with Israeli nationality — most of them descendants of those who refused to leave their homes during the 1948 war that created the Jewish state — make up a fifth of the country’s population."}],[{"start":203.44,"text":"Their turnout surged in this week’s election after they became frequent targets of Netanyahu and his far-right coalition, especially of Ben-Gvir, who has been sanctioned by Israel’s European allies for inciting extremist violence. Palestinian citizens of Israel have also been enraged by the Israeli military’s actions against their fellow Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza."}],[{"start":225.28,"text":"They are also indignant that soaring crime in their neighbourhoods has not been effectively handled by the police force, which reports to Ben-Gvir."}],[{"start":233.04,"text":"In Netanyahu’s first post-election speech, he labelled the Arab parties as traitors."}],[{"start":237.84,"text":"“It is simply forbidden that we should endanger Israel and establish a government that leans on Arab parties that are anti-Zionist, parties that actually object to our actual existence, that support Hamas, and who are calling our soldiers murderers and war criminals,” Netanyahu said."}],[{"start":251.96,"text":"Eisenkot, who himself is ambivalent about working with the Arab parties, said he supported an investigation into the claims. But he warned against allowing Netanyahu to exploit “information — which has yet to be investigated, and whose details and the scope of the suspicions it raises unclear — in order to challenge the official election results”."}],[{"start":273.14,"text":"“Netanyahu is . . . orchestrating an illicit influence operation targeting the Israeli public . . . to delay the timely announcement of election results and to manufacture a fictitious delegitimisation of the 26th Knesset’s operations,” he said."}],[{"start":288.74,"text":"The Shin Bet chief, David Zini, told Israeli media on election day: “We can tell Israeli citizens that the elections in Israel are secure, conducted properly, and under supervised control.”"}],[{"start":301,"text":"But late on Thursday, the agency released a statement confirming that it was still investigating the allegations, while asserting that it was acting independently."}],[{"start":310.2,"text":"It said the details of the probe had been kept confidential, except from the chief election commissioner, and would remain so until the election certification deadline on November 4."}],[{"start":320.46,"text":"“This investigation is not intended to cast aspersions, or to assign blame to, an entire sector of the public that participated in the democratic and lawful election process,” the Shin Bet said."}],[{"start":332.36,"text":"Sami Abu Shehadeh, the leader of the one of the largest Arab parties — who had earlier been barred from standing for parliament over a social media post — said: “In any functioning democracy, those who lose an election take responsibility and go home — in Israel, the losing side fabricates a racist blood libel and calls on security agencies to use force to overturn the election results.”"}],[{"start":356.36,"text":"President Isaac Herzog, who will shepherd the coalition-building process, said that while the allegations need to be investigated, “we must avoid tarnishing an entire community that sought to exercise its right to vote”."}],[{"start":373.18,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793319933_3642.mp3"}