{
  "id": 17139035,
  "title": "Israeli opposition accuses Netanyahu of trying to ‘delegitimise’ election",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/israeli-opposition-accuses-netanyahu-of-trying-to-delegitimise-17139035",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-29T21:46:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/israeli-opposition-accuses-netanyahu-of-trying-to-delegitimise-election/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Israeli opposition leaders Gadi Eisenkot and members of the Arab-led parties have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to \"delegitimise\" the recent election. Netanyahu's coalition lost its majority in the poll, and Likud alleged Arab parties had \"stolen\" the election. Home security agency Shin Bet is probing claims that foreign funding, especially from Qatar and Turkey, boosted Arab voter turnout. Qatar's Foreign Ministry dismissed these allegations as \"ridiculous and dangerous,\" accusing Israeli politicians of spreading disinformation. The two Arab party lists – The Joint List and Ra'am – saw a record 19 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, resulting from a surge in Arab voter turnout. This puts them in a position to potentially serve as kingmakers. Netanyahu's Likud claimed voters were \"bribed\" to vote for Arab parties, but both Arab parties rejected the claim, calling it baseless. Critics of Netanyahu see this as an attempt to invalidate the Arab parties, making it politically impossible for opposition leader Eisenkot to form a coalition with them. The Central Elections Committee (CEC) was approached with allegations that Qatar had provided funding to increase Arab voter turnout, but this was denied by Qatar's Foreign Ministry. Netanyahu and his Likud party framed the allegations as a \"political earthquake\" and an \"attack on democracy,\" aimed at removing Israel's right-wing government. However, Shin Bet later clarified that their investigation did not target a specific community, stating there was \"no basis for allegations of systematic violations of election integrity.\" Eisenkot, briefed on the investigation, said it's too early to determine what happened and accused Netanyahu of orchestrating a campaign to undermine the election results. The opposition bloc's final options for forming a government are a national unity government with Netanyahu and Eisenkot, a right-wing coalition with Netanyahu and defectors from Eisenkot's bloc, or an Eisenkot-led government backed by the Arab parties. No agreement between Eisenkot and the Arab parties has been reached thus far.",
  "summary": "The main Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot and Arab-led party leaders have denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleging foreign interference following the election which saw his coalition lose its majority.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 10,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Ynetnews",
        "title": "Netanyahu eyes former allies as Likud pushes for talks with Bennett and Liberman",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/netanyahu-eyes-former-allies-as-likud-pushes-for-talks-with-bennett",
        "published": "2026-10-28T17:00:32.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "DW News",
        "title": "Israeli election: Netanyahu, main rival fall short of majority after all votes counted",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/israeli-election-netanyahu-main-rival-fall-short-of-majority-after",
        "published": "2026-10-29T06:36:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Axios",
        "title": "After losing his majority, Netanyahu tries to delegitimize election results",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/after-losing-his-majority-netanyahu-tries-to-delegitimize-election",
        "published": "2026-10-29T17:46:19.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Jerusalem Post",
        "title": "Israel election results: Netanyahu's Likud biggest party in Israel after all votes counted",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/israel-election-results-netanyahus-likud-biggest-party-in-israel",
        "published": "2026-10-29T18:20:51.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Haaretz",
        "title": "'Likud has become like a cult': Voters who spoke to Haaretz foreshadowed Netanyahu's staying power",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/likud-has-become-like-a-cult-voters-who-spoke-to-haaretz-foreshadowed",
        "published": "2026-10-29T18:40:15.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Gulf News",
        "title": "Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party alleges election theft without evidence",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahus-likud-party-alleges-election-theft",
        "published": "2026-10-29T20:01:52.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "BBC News",
        "title": "Israeli opposition accuses Netanyahu of trying to 'delegitimise' election",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/israeli-opposition-accuses-netanyahu-of-trying-to-delegitimise",
        "published": "2026-10-29T20:21:54.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Arutz Sheva - Israel National News",
        "title": "Netanyahu and Smotrich meet to coordinate next steps following election results",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/netanyahu-and-smotrich-meet-to-coordinate-next-steps-following",
        "published": "2026-10-29T21:41:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News (US)",
        "title": "Israel election results: Netanyahu's bloc maintains lead but does not secure majority",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/israel-election-results-netanyahus-bloc-maintains-lead-but-does-not",
        "published": "2026-10-29T22:20:25.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}