Police Find No Evidence for Likud Election Fraud Claims

Israel Police said Thursday it had no investigative or intelligence evidence to support Likud’s claim that Arab parties stole the October 27 election, while preliminary results left both major blocs short of a parliamentary majority and gave Arab-led parties potential influence in coalition talks. The police said election day saw few unusual incidents involving electoral integrity, even compared with previous elections. The statement came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party alleged widespread fraud, including bribery, threats, violence, forgery and the use of prohibited software to mobilize voters. Likud said it was submitting evidence to authorities and called for investigations. The allegations have not been established by the evidence described by police. Preliminary tallies put Netanyahu’s bloc at about 53 seats and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot at about 48 in the 120-seat Knesset. A bloc needs 61 seats for a majority. The Joint List and Raam were projected to win 19 seats combined, leaving them in a potentially influential position as parties consider how to form a government. The figures remain provisional while counting and verification...