The Japan Times - Israel piles pressure on Arab parties as Netanyahu seeks government

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right firebrand with a history of attacks on Palestinians, went so far as to encourage Israel "immediately" to order the arrests of Arab party leaders.

Israel was nearing the completion of ballot-counting from Tuesday's election in which neither Netanyahu nor the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot looked able to secure a majority in the parliament known as the Knesset.

A looming threat on the horizon, meanwhile, was the prospect of a return to war with Iran, alongside Israel's ally the United States, which is holding its own crucial midterms next week.

Israel's election saw a soaring performance by Israeli Arabs, descendants of Palestinians who stayed after the country's creation in 1948, as outrage boiled at calls by ministers such as Ben Gvir to treat the Israeli minority group much as Israel has dealt with Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The Arab parties together have enough votes to take the opposition bloc over the finish line, but Eisenkot has baulked, after relentless attacks by Netanyahu who warned his right-wing Jewish base that voting for the opposition would put Arabs in power.

Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, a conservative who heads the Central Election Commission, requested an investigation by the Shin Bet security service into allegations that key Arab party Raam received money from Qatar, the energy-rich Gulf powerbroker that has channels for Hamas.

"The Raamgate scandal is a political earthquake. Israel's elections have been stolen!" Netanyahu's Likud party said.

Government officials did not offer evidence to back the allegations.

Netanyahu himself has long been under the cloud of allegations related to Qatar after the arrests last year of two of his aides for allegedly receiving payments from the Gulf power.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, for years tacitly supported Qatar funding to Hamas-ruled Gaza, hoping to preserve stability.

That paradigm collapsed on October 7, 2023 when Hamas carried out the deadliest single attack ever on Israel, under Netanyahu's watch.

- Kingmakers under pressure -

With nearly 93 percent of the vote counted, Netanyahu's bloc was at 53 seats and the opposition forces led by Eisenkot had 48 -- both well under the 61 needed to form a government.

The two main Arab formations were on track for an unprecedented 19 seats.

Some observers quickly said that the allegations would help Netanyahu by making the Arab lawmakers even more toxic to Eisenkot.

Yousef Jabareen, the head of one of them, the leftist Arab-majority Joint List, told AFP on Wednesday that he was willing to cooperate with the opposition to bring down Netanyahu but without joining it in a government.

He said the priority was to end "Netanyahu's blood-soaked government" but noted that the Arab lawmakers disagreed on plenty with Eisenkot, who has largely backed the destruction of Gaza ordered by Netanyahu after the October 7 attack.

In response to the new allegations, Eisenkot said he was receiving updates and promised "utmost vigilance" against election interference.

"On the other hand, we cannot allow political actors to exploit the situation and influence the timing of the inauguration of the 26th Knesset," he said.

One of Eisenkot's right-leaning allies, Avigdor Lieberman, called the allegations "dramatic and unprecedented" and urged a swift investigation.

An Israeli police statement said that they would investigate every complaint about election integrity.

- The great survivor -

Netanyahu, who has led Israel on and off for more than 19 years, is known as a wily political operator.

He also tried on Tuesday to raise allegations of fraud, saying that Arab parties were caught with envelopes of cash and encouraging his base to come out in response.

Police said they arrested three suspects but the election commission called it an isolated local case.

Another factor that could play into the formation is an attack on Iran.

Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran, with his ally, US President Donald Trump, signalling he is ready to attack after next Tuesday's US midterm elections, in which his Republican Party is forecast to lose ground.

Eisenkot has warned the military that Netanyahu has no mandate and that officers must not respond to his "political needs".

But an attack could raise pressure on Eisenkot to join an emergency unity government, an option he has publicly ruled out, or keep the clock running until Israel can call new elections.

President Isaac Herzog will decide after the publication of the official results which person to task with a first chance of forming a government.

T.Kobayashi--JT