Netanyahu claims election theft as Israeli turnout hits 45-year high

The latest:

Turnout in Israel’s Knesset election hit its highest level at this stage of a voting day in 45 years, with heavy participation reported among Arab voters, particularly in Rahat. Hours earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged after casting his ballot in Jerusalem that someone was trying to steal the vote. The Central Elections Committee said it had seen no indications of systematic ballot tampering, according to The Times of Israel.

Details:

• The allegation: Netanyahu renewed his accusations against Arab parties after voting Tuesday, saying publicly that there were those attempting to steal the election. He offered no evidence, and repeated the charge across a series of posts on X during the day.
• The arrest claim: In those posts, Netanyahu claimed three senior officials of the United Arab List (Ra’am) had been detained in southern Israel carrying envelopes stuffed with cash. He presented no supporting evidence, and did not name the officials or identify the agency that allegedly made the arrests.
• The official response: The Central Elections Committee said it had no indications of systematic tampering with ballot papers, while confirming it had received complaints from several parties about irregularities at some polling stations. It said individual reports were being handled as they arrived.
• Who complained: Parties reporting missing, torn or tampered ballot slips included Yashar, led by Gadi Eisenkot; Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Avigdor Lieberman; and the Reserve party, led by Yoaz Hendel, according to The Times of Israel.
• Yashar’s charge: Yashar accused unnamed actors of undermining the democratic process, saying the repetition of such incidents raised suspicions of deliberate attempts to influence the outcome and block voters. It called on the committee to intervene urgently, step up inspections and replace missing slips, without specifying how many stations were affected.
• Hendel’s complaint: Reserve party leader Yoaz Hendel said his party had received complaints that its ballot slips were removed or tampered with, following what he described as a disinformation campaign launched by Likud. He urged voters to verify that slips carrying his party’s electoral symbol were present.
• The mobilization push: Netanyahu urged supporters to turn out for Likud, telling them to skip barbecues and the beach and head to polling stations. He also said the contest could not be left to the left and to Arab parties, which he claimed wanted to end the Jewish state.
• Inside the coalition: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused Netanyahu of planning to exclude him from the next government, a public rift between the prime minister and one of his most prominent partners on voting day itself.
• The context: Netanyahu and his wife Sara voted at a Jerusalem polling station on Tuesday morning. The election has been described as the most consequential in the country’s history, with Arab voter participation running high in several areas.

Between the lines:

Netanyahu’s theft claim and the Likud disinformation campaign cited by Hendel were both aimed at turnout rather than at the count itself. The committee’s finding of no systematic tampering leaves the complaints from Yashar, Yisrael Beiteinu and Reserve as scattered incidents, while Ben Gvir’s accusation shows coalition bargaining had already begun before a single result was published.

What’s next

Watch the final turnout figure against the 45-year record, the Central Elections Committee’s handling of the complaints filed by Yashar, Yisrael Beiteinu and Reserve, and whether Ben Gvir’s rift with Netanyahu shapes coalition talks.