Election chief presents results to president, says casting doubt on them a ‘real danger’ to democracy

The chairman of the Central Election Committee, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, on Wednesday presented the officially certified results of the October 27 election to President Isaac Herzog in a formal ceremony at the President’s Residence.

The results were certified on Wednesday morning by the CEC plenum. Earlier, the committee’s presidium approved sending the results for ratification, though both representatives of the outgoing coalition abstained. In the plenum vote, two representatives of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party voted against certification, and all 14 other coalition representatives abstained, as Likud and its allies continue to cast doubt on the results, despite assurances from top election officials that the vote was valid.

But the opposition’s 15 representatives approved the results, thereby certifying them.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Sohlberg chastised those casting doubt on the results, saying doing so posed “a real danger” to Israel’s democracy, and repeated his stance that even if so-far unsubstantiated suspicions of electoral fraud in the Arab community are proven to be true, the extent of the alleged wrongdoing would not be enough to impact the election results.

Herzog formally accepted the results from Sohlberg, and expressed confidence that the suspicions of fraud would be thoroughly and professionally investigated, while condemning what he said was “coarse and racist” rhetoric against Arab Israelis and “smears” against the entire community.

He called on all parties to compromise on their election campaign commitments in order to form a government and avoid new elections, in light of the political deadlock the October ballot has created.

Likud lawyer Ilan Bombach was the only representative of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political bloc at Wednesday’s ceremony, after the bloc’s CEC members either resigned, abstained from, or voted against the CEC certification of the results.

Likud and other outgoing coalition factions had sought to delay certification due to two ongoing investigations into suspected election irregularities: a Shin Bet and Mossad probe into intelligence suggesting money from Qatar and other countries may have reached the Joint List of Arab parties through disguised donations, and a separate police investigation into alleged vote-buying in the Negev.

Sohlberg has repeatedly stated that the extent of the suspected fraud, based on the evidence presented to him, would not be enough to impact the outcome of the election results, and therefore rejected attempts to delay certification.

In addition to the presentation of the election results to Herzog, the results were also published in the state gazette, as required under the law.

“In recent days, we have heard voices trying to cast doubt on the election results and to undermine their legitimacy. This is a real danger,” Sohlberg said in a speech after handing the results to Herzog.

“One of the foundations of democracy is the ability to have a peaceful transfer of power. This stems from the understanding that the will of the electorate obligates us all,” he said.

Sohlberg said that the CEC members were presented in the morning with a summary of the investigation. He insisted that the suspicions should and were being thoroughly investigated.

“At the moment they are only suspicions, but even if they are confirmed, the extent of their possible impact is limited. Therefore, it is not possible to not publish the election results that were conducted, or to extend the term of the Knesset whose term has ended,” asserted Sohlberg.

“Accordingly, we publish the elections now,” he continued, adding that if evidence is found of electoral fraud, appeals against the results can still be filed in the legally approved manner, through a petition to the Jerusalem District Court, sitting as an administrative court.

Speaking after receiving the results from Sohlberg, Herzog said that he had “full confidence” in the Shin Bet, police and other law enforcement officials to properly investigate suspicions of electoral fraud.

He added that he’d spoken to Shin Bet chief David Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara earlier in the day, against the background of reports of severe disagreements between the two over the handling of the investigations, adding that he respects them both.

“Any suspicion of subversive foreign interference in the election results must be fully investigated by the Shin Bet and the Police,” he said.

Herzog insisted, however, that Arab society not be smeared as a result of the investigations into electoral fraud.

“I condemn the coarse and racist expressions that we have heard recently. There is no place for them toward any community in Israel,” said Herzog.

Addressing the political stalemate resulting from the elections, the president said that the various Knesset factions should understand that they cannot abide by “every commitment and promise” made in the campaign, so that new elections are avoided.

Multiple factions from the so-called change bloc opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have said that they will not form a minority government that relies on the support of Arab-majority parties from outside a coalition.

The same factions also ruled out sitting with Netanyahu in a unity government during the election campaign, seemingly closing off that route to a government, while insisting that strict legislation be passed to dramatically ramp up ultra-Orthodox enlistment to the IDF, which would ostensibly block a coalition with the Haredi parties as well.

“In the current reality, in which there is no clear winner after the election, I ask for originality and creativity, courage and goodwill, so that the State of Israel emerges the winner,” said Herzog.

The president will begin the process of consultations with the various Knesset factions on Wednesday in order to receive their recommendations on who should get the first chance to try and form a government.

Once those consultations are completed, he will assign the task of forming a government to one faction leader, who will then have up to 42 days to do so.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Shin Bet told the CEC that intelligence gathered so far pointed to widespread foreign funding and influence operations involving “thousands of people and possibly more.”

The agency said the money came from foreign countries and actors with “concealed and even hostile interests” and was intended to promote foreign influence, though it said further investigative work was needed before it could establish the scale of the alleged activity with a high degree of certainty.

The Shin Bet did not identify the countries or individuals involved, and no evidence has been made public showing that the alleged activity altered the vote or the election results.

Sources in the law enforcement system and police told Haaretz that they were not familiar with the claim that the alleged operation involved “huge sums” and “thousands of people.”

“If that’s the case, then how is it possible that [Shin Bet chief] Zini said on election day that the vote was safe?” one of the sources told the newspaper. “If huge sums were flowing in, it should have been thwarted.”

The fraud allegations began after election day, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Likud figures claimed, without presenting evidence, that the vote was being “stolen” amid very high turnout in Arab communities.

The claims later centered on two separate suspicions: an alleged vote-buying scheme involving Ra’am activists, and a purported foreign-funded effort — linked in reports to Qatar or Turkey — to boost Arab turnout and influence the election.

Ra’am has denied any wrongdoing by the party.

One unnamed Likud source cited by Haaretz compared the plan to the “stop the steal” campaign that followed US President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection loss.

Results approved as probe continues

The Shin Bet’s comments to the Central Elections Committee came after the panel’s five-member presidium voted Wednesday morning to approve the results of the election.

The Yesh Atid and Blue and White representatives voted in favor, as did Sohlberg, while the Likud and Shas representatives abstained.

The full Central Elections Committee later ratified the results in a largely symbolic vote, with 15 members voting in favor, two opposed and 14 abstaining.

Likud MK Amit Halevi resigned from the committee, saying, “As members of the Elections Committee, we can and must certify only the free choice of Israeli citizens, and not the choice of the rulers of Qatar, Iran or Turkey.”

“I appeal to the entire Israeli public not to lend a hand to undermining the fundamental principle of free elections and dealing a fatal blow to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,” he added.

Sohlberg stressed that the committee had no authority to reject the results or obstruct what he called “the peaceful transfer of power.”

“It is the voters, through their ballots, who determine the election results. Neither the committee chair nor the committee plenary may reject the voters’ decision,” he said.

סולברג: "הקולות שמבקשים להטיל דופי בתוצאות הבחירות – סכנה של ממש" pic.twitter.com/ZeuJwO9ihl

— חזקי ברוך (@HezkeiB) November 4, 2026

Sohlberg rejected the notion that the outgoing coalition, which holds a structural majority on the committee, could use that majority to block the results. “The transfer of power cannot depend on the wishes or consent of representatives of the majority in the outgoing Knesset,” he said. “Such an approach is not only contrary to the law — it is contrary to the core of our shared existence as citizens in a democratic state.”

Hours before the vote, the committee announced that its extensive post-election review had found no irregularities or evidence that the integrity of the vote had been compromised or that the results had been altered. The examination covered protocols from 9,069 polling stations.

“The conclusion of the operation revealed no irregularities or findings that would suggest that the integrity of the elections had been compromised or that the results had been altered,” said the panel’s statement.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, responded to the Shin Bet’s latest findings by calling on Zini to arrest all Arab party leaders and question them “in Shin Bet basement cells,” even without the attorney general’s approval — an entirely illegal proposition. He also demanded an immediate freeze on certification of the election results and the formation of a government.

“The election was stolen here in the State of Israel,” Ben Gvir said, adding that “not a single stone” should be left unturned in the effort to uncover the “truth.”