Netanjahu ne bo odšel mirno.

Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot issued a video statement on Thursday accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of launching an orchestrated campaign to delegitimize the recent national elections. Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff, stated that the ruling Likud party is engaged in a coordinated effort to discredit the results, a move critics argue is designed to block the formation of a new government. The dispute erupted after final counts indicated that neither Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc nor the Jewish opposition secured a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, leaving two Arab-led parties in a pivotal position to decide the country’s leadership. The crisis intensified following the release of final election data, which showed that the Joint List and the Ra’am party, both led by Arab politicians, won a combined total of 19 seats. This performance exceeded pre-election projections due to a significant surge in voter turnout among Arab Israelis. Consequently, the Arab parties emerged as potential kingmakers. Netanyahu’s bloc captured 53 seats, while Eisenkot’s coalition secured 48. With neither side holding the necessary 61 votes to govern alone, the political landscape hinges on whether the opposition can forge an alliance with the Arab representatives. Tensions escalated sharply on Wednesday when Likud released a statement declaring that the elections had been stolen. The party alleged that Arab groups had committed fraud and accepted bribes to manipulate the vote. These accusations followed a directive from Noam Sohlberg, the Supreme Court justice heading the Central Elections Committee, who asked the Shin Bet domestic security service to investigate serious suspicions of foreign interference. Sohlberg noted in a letter that he could not independently verify the claims but deemed them severe enough to warrant immediate scrutiny by security agencies. Israeli media subsequently identified Qatar as the nation implicated in the allegations, suggesting it funneled funds to boost voter participation in Arab communities. Qatar’s foreign ministry reacted swiftly, rejecting the claims as ridiculous and dangerous. Spokesman Majed Al Ansari stated that Doha categorically denies interfering in Israeli elections or funding activities intended to influence their outcome. He characterized the accusations as part of a broader disinformation campaign by Israeli politicians against the Gulf state. Despite the official denials, the Shin Bet began an investigation into the matter. However, the security agency later clarified that its probe did not implicate the entire Arab community, emphasizing that most voters had participated legally. Dean Livne, the acting director-general of the Central Elections Committee, asserted that there was no basis for allegations of systematic violations regarding election integrity. Furthermore, Israeli police stated there was no evidence to support Likud’s claims of widespread theft, although three activists from the Ra’am party were arrested on suspicion of paying a small number of voters in one specific city. Netanyahu and his allies framed the situation as a political earthquake and an attack on democracy, arguing that foreign powers sought to topple the right-wing government. The prime minister had spent much of election day posting on social media that high Arab turnout represented an emergency for the Israeli right. He also shared artificial intelligence-generated images of Arab voters at polling stations, aiming to mobilize his base. Critics, however, viewed these actions as an attempt to create a pretext for invalidating the vote. Eisenkot, who was briefed on the security investigation, maintained that it was premature to determine if any irregularities occurred. Nevertheless, he accused Netanyahu of running an organized scheme to delegitimize the process. Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, a member of the Joint List, dismissed the fraud claims as a racist blood libel constructed by the losing side to justify using security forces to overturn the results. Ahmad Tibi, another Joint List leader, told reporters that the campaign was specifically targeted at Eisenkot, intending to intimidate him away from forming a government reliant on external support from Arab parties. Mansour Abbas, the leader of the Ra’am party, stated that his organization was not involved in the reported suspicious conduct and urged a thorough investigation. He described Netanyahu’s actions as an incitement campaign against Israel’s Arab citizens, asserting that the delegitimization efforts would fail because there was nothing to uncover. Ben Gvir, a senior Likud figure, went further, calling for the arrest of Arab party leaders suspected of involvement with Qatari money. The current standoff presents limited options for governance. If the opposition refuses to collaborate with Arab parties, citing ideological differences or public pressure, Netanyahu may remain in power as a caretaker prime minister until a new election is held. Precedent exists for such a scenario, having occurred during the political instability of 2019 and 2020. Conversely, if Eisenkot succeeds in building a coalition with the Arab lists, it would mark a significant shift in Israeli politics, uniting secular and religious Jewish parties with Arab representatives. The coming days will determine whether the Knesset can convene a stable government or if the country faces another cycle of elections.