Netanyahu's bloc falls short of majority in Israel's election

Final results from Israel's election, released early on Friday, confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc lost its majority in parliament. The vote was held on Tuesday. According to the count reported by DW and France 24, the right-wing and far-right bloc won 53 of the 120 Knesset seats, short of the 61 needed to govern.

Netanyahu's Likud won 27 seats, making it the largest single party in parliament. The main opposition bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, won 48 seats. Neither side has a majority, and Arab News reported that both leaders are looking for ways to widen their support.

The Arab parties Raam and the Joint List together won 19 seats, which could give them a decisive role in forming a government. France 24 described their showing as historic. Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen said his party is willing to cooperate with the opposition to end Netanyahu's government but will not join a new government.

Coalition talks are expected to take several weeks and will involve very different parties, from ultra-Orthodox to secular to Arab-led. DW reported that a new election is possible if the talks fail.

On Thursday Likud alleged, without providing evidence according to France 24, that Arab parties' gains were driven partly by voter fraud. A Likud statement said that the so-called Raam Gate scandal was a political earthquake and that Israel's elections had been stolen. Supporters of Netanyahu also alleged that Arab parties received foreign funding. Arab parties and Qatar denied this. The allegation centres on claims that Raam received money from Qatar that was used to buy votes.

Dan Levin, acting director general of the election committee, called claims of widespread irregularities completely baseless. Israel's internal security agency Shin Bet said it had opened an investigation into suspected irregularities. Police confirmed the arrest of three suspects in a case involving cash envelopes allegedly given to Arab parties, which the election committee described as a limited local incident.

DW also noted that two Netanyahu aides were arrested last year on suspicion of receiving payments from Qatar. France 24 said the accusations marked an escalation of anti-Arab rhetoric by Netanyahu and his far-right partners.