Netanyahu posts Likud claim of a ‘dark cloud’ hanging over the election results

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party claims a “dark cloud” hangs over the election results.

“It is highly perplexing that Justice [Noam} Sohlberg describes the allegations of foreign funding as ‘very serious,’ yet simultaneously, and before the investigation has even concluded, preemptively determines that they have no impact on the election results,” reads a statement from the premier’s Likud party, reposted on Netanyahu’s X account.

“A mere 4,612 votes stood between a Knesset seat shifting from Ra’am to the right-wing bloc,” claims the premier, “a shift that would have completely altered the election results and the political landscape.”

Even if the calculation is correct, is not clear how a single seat would drastically alter the election result, as Likud claims, given that the pro-Netanyahu right-wing bloc received a combined 53 seats in the election, compared to the anti-Netanyahu bloc’s 67.

“We demand a swift and thorough investigation to safeguard the integrity of the Knesset election and the sovereignty of the people. Until the investigation is concluded, a dark cloud hangs over Israel’s election results,” the statement concludes.

Yesterday, Sohlberg, the chair of the Central Elections Committee, reiterated in a video message that last week’s national election was “conducted properly,” in a bid to quell claims of widespread voter fraud.

Sohlberg appeared in the video alongside Shin Bet chief David Zini, CEC acting director-general Dean Livne, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, with the four presenting a united front against the claims.