Likud: Election interference probe shows no Zionist party should partner with Arab factions

Warning of an attempted “Islamization of Israel,” the ruling Likud party seeks to use the Shin Bet investigation into foreign election interference to taint any potential attempt by the opposition bloc to partner with Arab parties in forming a government.

“After it was revealed that foreign entities tried to take over the Knesset,” says the party in a statement, “it is clear that no Zionist party should cooperate with Ra’am and the Joint List, replace the Knesset speaker through votes bought for cash, and form a government that is dangerous to Israel.”

The Gadi Eisenkot-led bloc doesn’t have the votes to form a government on its own, but would be above the requisite 61 seats if it partners with the two Arab parties, or forms a minority government with their support. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc also does not have the seats to form a ruling coalition.

Calling it “Ra’amgate,” Likud repeats the charge that Arab parties “stole the elections in Israel.”

Netanyahu’s party says a potential attempt by foreign actors — which it reportedly believes are Qatar — to influence the vote is “an attack on democracy whose purpose is to lead to a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamization of Israel, and the overthrow of right-wing rule in order to lead to retreat and defeat of the IDF in all arenas – and primarily Iran.”