Israeli right makes provocative statements as election votes are counted
Summary
Israeli right-wing leaders made statements about Arab voters, alleged election fraud and possible Jewish settlements in Gaza as votes were counted. With no camp projected to win a parliamentary majority, Arab-led parties could influence coalition talks.Key Facts
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would preserve settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and declared that Jewish settlements would be established in Gaza.
- Israel dismantled its settlements in Gaza in 2005.
- Smotrich claimed, without providing figures, that turnout was unusually high in Arab communities and left-wing areas.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Arab voters were turning out in large numbers and said an opposition victory would threaten Israel’s Jewish character.
- Netanyahu accused three senior Ra’am figures of trying to steal the election; police confirmed arrests of three people suspected of voter bribery, but the article gave no indication they held senior Ra’am positions.
- Likud minister Miri Regev also alleged on X that people were trying to steal the election, without providing evidence.
- With about 55 percent of ballots counted, Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc was projected to have 56 of the parliament’s 120 seats, short of the 61 needed for a majority.
- Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas said he had received approaches from both Likud and the opposition camp led by Gadi Eisenkot.
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