Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused political opponents of attempting to steal Tuesday’s parliamentary election following arrests in a suspected voter-bribery investigation, as record turnout prompted his coalition to intensify efforts to mobilize supporters before polls closed.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that political opponents were attempting to steal the country’s national election, citing the arrest of three individuals allegedly associated with the Arab Ra’am party as voter participation reached its highest recorded level for that point in an election day.
With polling stations scheduled to close at 10 p.m. local time, Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition intensified efforts to mobilize supporters amid reports of particularly strong participation in Arab communities.
“They are trying to steal the election from us,” Netanyahu declared in an election-day video, according to The Times of Israel.
<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"> </span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"> </span><br>
His remarks followed the arrest of three individuals suspected of offering financial incentives to voters in southern Israel.
Israeli police said the suspects were associated with Ra’am, an Arab political party led by Mansour Abbas. The party denied wrongdoing and challenged the circumstances of the arrests. No court had established that the suspects committed voter bribery.
Netanyahu described the allegations as serious and urged supporters of his Likud party to vote before the deadline.
“It’s serious,” he said. “It’s criminal. They will reach every single person. You have been warned.”
The prime minister also claimed that Arab voters in the Negev were participating at substantially higher rates than Jewish voters, although he did not provide supporting figures for that comparison.
“You must go out and vote,” Netanyahu said. “You also must race to the ballot.”
He discouraged supporters from spending the remaining election hours on recreational activities.
“No beach, no barbecue, everyone goes out to vote Likud,” he said.
The warnings came as Israel’s Central Elections Committee reported that turnout had reached 66.7% by 6 p.m., compared with 57.7% at the same hour during the 2022 parliamentary election.
The nine-percentage-point increase represented the highest turnout recorded at that hour since Israel began collecting comparable election-day statistics in 1973.
According to official turnout figures reported by The Times of Israel, approximately 4.89 million Israelis had voted by 6 p.m.
Participation was also substantially higher earlier in the day. By 4 p.m., turnout had reached 55.7%, compared with 47.5% four years earlier.
The increased participation prompted senior figures within Netanyahu’s governing coalition to organize additional get-out-the-vote efforts.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Netanyahu coordinated an emergency campaign initiative involving local officials and political organizers, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party said the effort included plans to convene dozens of local leaders to encourage supporters to reach polling stations before voting ended.
The mobilization came amid concerns within the governing coalition about turnout differences between traditionally right-wing constituencies and communities supporting opposition parties.
Arab-majority communities reported particularly strong participation, including the southern city of Rahat and several other municipalities.
However, high turnout among Arab citizens is not evidence of election fraud. Israel’s Central Elections Committee said it had found no indication of systematic ballot tampering despite complaints involving several political parties.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev echoed Netanyahu’s allegations, also warning supporters that opponents were attempting to steal the election.
The claims drew criticism from opposition politicians, including Arab party leaders who accused Netanyahu of portraying legitimate political participation as a threat.
Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen rejected the prime minister’s statements and accused him of undermining the political legitimacy of Arab citizens.
“Netanyahu, you continue to incite against Arab citizens and question our legitimacy to vote and influence the political map,” Jabareen said, according to The Times of Israel.
Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas also disputed the implications of the arrests, accusing authorities of interfering with the election and arguing that the investigation could influence voter participation.
Police maintained that the arrests concerned suspected criminal activity rather than an effort to discourage voting.
The controversy unfolded during Israel’s first national election since the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent wars involving Gaza and other regional adversaries.
The election has become a major test of Netanyahu’s leadership, with voters weighing national security, the government’s handling of the conflict, economic conditions and disagreements over military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, one of Netanyahu’s principal challengers, has called for greater accountability over the security failures preceding the October 2023 attacks.
Netanyahu has emphasized his government’s military record and argued that continued right-wing leadership is necessary for Israel’s security.
The parliamentary election will determine the composition of Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, where a governing coalition generally requires the support of at least 61 lawmakers.
With no individual party expected to secure an outright majority, negotiations among political factions may be necessary after ballots are counted.
The election committee also addressed requests to extend voting hours because of unusually heavy participation.
Officials maintained the scheduled 10 p.m. closing time but confirmed that eligible voters already waiting in line when polls closed would be permitted to cast their ballots.
The unusually high turnout has intensified political attention on the final hours of voting, but it does not establish which coalition will control the next government.
Netanyahu’s accusations concern a specific criminal investigation involving three suspects, while broader claims of an organized attempt to steal the election remain unsubstantiated.
As voting concluded Tuesday evening, election officials continued overseeing ballot access and responding to complaints, with the final distribution of parliamentary seats dependent on the completed count and Israel’s proportional representation system.
Original article
Comments