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Urna electoral transparente llena de sobres de votación frente a edificios de piedra en Jerusalén
Urna con papeletas en Jerusalén, en alusión a la ratificación de los resultados de las elecciones legislativas de Israel. · Imagen generada por EPM

Israel Certifies Election Result as Netanyahu Loses Majority

Israel's electoral authorities certified the October 27 legislative elections and rejected Netanyahu's fraud claims.

--- The context --- Israel closed a week of institutional tension on Sunday after the October 27 legislative elections. The Central Elections Committee certified the validity of the vote and rejected the fraud claims pressed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose bloc lost its majority in the Knesset. --- The facts --- Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Central Elections Committee and serves as a Supreme Court justice, said the voting was conducted properly and that the results show the will of the citizens. His message carried the backing of Shin Bet chief David Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The distribution released by the Committee gives Netanyahu's bloc 53 of the 120 Knesset seats, while the camp led by Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats and the Arab parties secured 19 lawmakers. Without the 61 seats needed for an outright majority, the prime minister is forced to negotiate. --- The positions --- Sohlberg added that even if some of the reported irregularities were confirmed, that would not undermine the overall integrity of the process or justify changing the results, and he clarified that the investigations will continue until the facts are established. Likud alleged that organizations linked to the Arab parties had received foreign funding to influence the campaign and favor specific political forces, including suspicions of alleged intervention by Qatar, which rejected the claim. Netanyahu and his allies demand deeper investigations before the process is closed, while Eisenkot accused the governing camp of seeking to discredit the outcome. --- What remains unknown --- The outcome of the investigations into the reported irregularities and the alleged foreign funding remains unknown. It is also undecided which leader President Isaac Herzog will task with forming the government after consulting the different parties. --- Unanswered questions --- Will the investigations produce conclusive evidence that changes the institutional reading of the process? Will Netanyahu's bloc accept the certified result or keep the dispute open? Can the opposition and the Arab parties turn their combined seats into a viable government? --- EPM analysis --- Certification sets the calendar in motion: on Wednesday, November 4, the final results must be formally presented to President Isaac Herzog, and consultations will then begin to name the leader charged with forming the government. The dispute is no longer only about seats, but about trust in the electoral arbiter. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, certification protects what matters most: an election result is defined by the will of the voters, not by pressure from whoever loses a majority. Investigating every claim with evidence is fully compatible with respecting the institutional verdict, and both tracks should advance without being confused. Israel gains stability if the consultations to form a government start from the confirmed distribution of seats, if suspicions are proven or discarded on evidence, and if no camp turns unproven doubt into a permanent veto over democracy.
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