Israeli President Isaac Herzog has accepted the certified results of the national election, despite allegations of fraud and foreign interference by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu had raised claims that Israel's Arab political parties had defrauded the election through various means, including bribery and intimidation, and also alleged that outside forces had interfered to benefit these parties.
What happened
The election results show that no party has a clear governing majority, with Netanyahu's Likud-led coalition winning 53 Knesset seats and the main opposition bloc winning 48. To form a government, a party or coalition must win at least 61 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.
Herzog stated that the Israeli authorities, including the Shin Bet security service, will investigate the election fraud claims and any suspicions of foreign interference. He also denounced vitriol directed at Arab voters and expressed confidence in the work of the Shin Bet and law enforcement authorities.
The Israeli Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg said that the allegations had not proved sufficient to justify delaying certification of the results and that even if confirmed, the fraud and interference claims would have a limited impact on the overall election result.
