Jerusalem Daily: Netanyahu attacks Israel’s Arab parties as he falls short of majority

Israel's election has left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without a majority. Arab blood parties could hold the key, but now Netanyahu has accused them of fraud. This is Jerusalem Daily, the latest from Palestine and Israel. With the count complete, Netanyahu's bloc has 53 seats, while his main rival, Gadi Eizenkot, has 48. Neither has the 61 needed to form a government. But Arab-led parties have secured 19 seats, nearly doubling their representation in parliament. Their seats could make all the difference. But just hours before the final votes were counted, Netanyahu accused those same Palestinian-Israeli parties of fraud and foreign interference. Israeli election officials quickly rejected claims of widespread fraud. Israel's Shin Bet security agency is investigating allegations of foreign interference, but they remain unproven. And the pushback goes further. President Isaac Herzog has warned against tarnishing an entire community, while Eisenkot has accused Netanyahu of trying to undermine the election results. If Eisenkot's opposition works with Arab parties, together they'd have enough for a majority. But having the numbers doesn't necessarily mean having the power. Mansour Abbas is wrong. The Ra'am Party is open to joining a government while the Arab Joint List says it could support a government from outside. That could give Arab lawmakers leverage to demand more funding, better services and greater rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel. But while Palestinian citizens of Israel have gained unprecedented representation, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza have no vote in the Israeli elections. help determine policies that are affecting their lives. And many don't expect a change in government to mean a change in those policies. No matter the outcome of the elections in Israel, even if the faces have changed, the policies related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I think there is no drastic or dramatic change in it. As Israel's politicians battle over who will govern, Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank continue to face Israeli attacks, raids and displacement. In Hebron, Israeli forces have maintained a military lockdown for a seventh consecutive day. Israeli forces also carried out raids elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, arresting at least 13 Palestinians on Thursday, according to Palestinian sources. And in Umm al-Khair, Israeli settlers attacked foreign journalists and activists. American journalist Jasper Nathaniel and Russian-Israeli journalist Andrei Kartsevsky were subsequently detained by Israeli police. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have killed six Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to Gaza's health ministry. Four were killed in an attack in Al-Mawasi, near Rafah. They were employees of Gaza's Ministry of Economy, who are monitoring aid deliveries. Stay with us on Al Jazeera for all the latest developments.