Gadi Eisenkot Accuses Netanyahu of Delegitimizing Election Results

Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party of waging a destructive campaign to delegitimize Israel's parliamentary election results. The dispute follows the October 27 elections, in which Netanyahu's bloc secured 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while Jewish opposition parties won 48 and Arab parties won 19.

Likud has demanded an urgent meeting of the Central Elections Committee to investigate alleged fraud and foreign interference within the Arab community. The party is considering an unprecedented refusal to recognize the results and may vote against their certification on Wednesday. The far-right Otzma Yehudit party has already announced it will vote against certification. However, Central Elections Committee chairman and Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg rejected these demands, stating that results would be published as scheduled and no authority can withhold their publication.

Eisenkot has gained the backing of 48 opposition lawmakers and is expected to receive recommendations from two Arab lists, potentially totaling 67 recommendations. The Democrats party has already recommended that President Isaac Herzog task Eisenkot with forming the next government. President Herzog is scheduled to begin consultations with parliamentary factions on Wednesday, departing from custom by meeting with smaller factions before meeting with Yashar and Likud on Thursday.