Eisenkot accuses Netanyahu of undermining Israeli election results

Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party Monday of seeking to discredit the country's parliamentary election results, alleging a deliberate campaign to undermine public confidence in the electoral process.

"Likud and Netanyahu are fighting to contain their losses and are continuing, with full force, a destructive and violent attack aimed at delegitimizing the election results and the Central Elections Committee,” Eisenkot wrote on X.

He said the campaign highlighted "the grave danger” posed by Netanyahu and Likud retaining their grip on centers of power and government.

Eisenkot described the attacks as a refuge for those who understood the scale of their defeat.

"They have grown accustomed to acting as they please, without limits or constraints, but those days are over,” he added.

His remarks followed Likud’s demand for an urgent meeting of the Central Elections Committee to discuss suspicions of foreign interference before the final results are certified.

Responding Monday evening, committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg said the results would be published as scheduled, according to daily Israel Hayom.

Netanyahu and right-wing parties in his bloc have alleged fraud and manipulation in voting within Israel’s Arab community during last Tuesday’s election.

The dispute comes ahead of President Isaac Herzog’s consultations with parliamentary factions, scheduled to begin Wednesday and continue Thursday, before he selects a lawmaker to task with forming a government.

Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 48 for the Jewish opposition parties and 19 for the Arab parties.

Eisenkot has the backing of the 48 opposition lawmakers after the Democrats, Together and Yisrael Beytenu decided to recommend him for the mandate.

The two Arab lists are also expected to recommend Eisenkot, potentially raising his total to 67 recommendations and strengthening his prospects of being selected.

Receiving the mandate, however, would not guarantee that he could assemble a governing coalition.

Under Israel’s Basic Law: The Government, the designated lawmaker has 28 days to form a government, with a possible presidential extension of up to 14 days.