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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc piled pressure Thursday on Israel's Arab parties over unproven allegations of Qatari election funding, with a well-known far-right figure, the National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, urging the arrest of Arab party leaders.
The campaign came after the Central Elections Committee chairman ordered a Shin Bet probe into suspected foreign funding, even as a senior police official called fraud claims "spins" with "no basis whatsoever" and observers said the push could make the Arab parties more toxic to the opposition.
The Arab parties won a record 19 seats in Tuesday's election, enough to put the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot over the 61-seat threshold. With about 93.8% of votes counted, Netanyahu's bloc had 53 seats and the opposition 48.
The far-right Ben-Gvir said the Shin Bet should order the arrest of Arab party leaders suspected of involvement in Qatari funding, along with other suspects, "provided there were legal grounds."
"Arab party leaders must be questioned by the Shin Bet today," another far-right figure in Israeli politics, the Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, wrote on X. "The State of Israel will not be sold to radical Islam with terror money."
"The Raamgate scandal is a political earthquake. Israel’s elections have been stolen!" Likud said.
Likud said the allegations should stop the opposition from cooperating with the United Arab List (Ra’am) to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
Government officials offered no evidence.
"These are spins that, so far, have no basis whatsoever," a senior police official told Haaretz, adding that fewer fraud complaints were received than in previous elections.
Dean Livne, acting director-general of the Central Elections Committee, also said there was no basis for claims that Arab voters "stole" the election.
Police have arrested seven suspects in a separate case in which envelopes of cash linked to Ra’am were found in the Negev.
The election committee described it as an isolated local case.
Rabbi Gilad Kariv, a lawmaker from the center-left Democrats party, accused Netanyahu and his allies of trying to "undermine the legitimacy of the election to hold on to power."
In a post on X, Kariv wrote that "Netanyahu lost the election and is refusing to acknowledge the results." He said he was not surprised by the move, adding that coalition parties "didn't hide their plan to discredit the election if they didn't like the results."
"This is a sensitive moment, and I want to make things clear: The integrity of elections is a supreme value in a democracy. The evidence and allegations must be thoroughly investigated, and those responsible must be investigated and punished to the full extent of the law," President Isaac Herzog said.
"Even at a moment like this, we must avoid casting a shadow over an entire public that sought to exercise its right to vote and take an active part in democracy," he added.
Two official sources confirmed the Shin Bet held intelligence on possible illegal fund transfers before the election, but election committee officials said they were never informed, Ynet reported.
The Shin Bet said it does "not comment" on the investigation.
"Netanyahu, who has grown accustomed to dealing with reality through lies, manipulation of public opinion, and the spread of chaos, is leading, together with his allies, an illegitimate influence campaign targeting the Israeli public," Eisenkot said, adding the Shin Bet must investigate "thoroughly, immediately, and without bias."
"Netanyahu suffered a crushing democratic defeat. The public fired him, and he refuses to accept the voters’ decision," Democrats leader Yair Golan wrote on X.
"The most serious act of betrayal and Qatari interference took place in Netanyahu’s office, carried out by his closest adviser," he added, referring to aide Yonatan Urich.
"The people have spoken. With 67 seats, a majority of the Israeli public demanded change," Golan said.
Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen told Agence France-Presse (AFP) he was willing to cooperate with the opposition to bring down Netanyahu without joining a government.
"What we said before the elections is even more true after the elections. We will sit neither with Bibi nor with Tibi," Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman said, ruling out both Netanyahu and a minority government backed by Arab parties.
"We need to wait for the dust to settle and only then see where we go and what we do," he said.
Liberman called the allegations "dramatic and unprecedented."
Israeli President Herzog will decide who gets the first chance to form a government after official results are published, as pressure mounts on the Arab parties.
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