Israel election: Police release two voter bribery suspects amid Likud claims

Israeli police released two of three suspects in an alleged voter bribery case on Sunday. The move weakened claims by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus Likud party about wrongdoing in the October 27 election. Likud has alleged, without evidence, that Arab-led parties stole the vote. The allegations followed arrests linked to envelopes of cash found before polls opened.

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Police said the suspects were connected to the Islamist party Raam, which denied involvement. Local media outlet Ynet reported that a judge criticised the investigation. The judge also rejected police requests for further restrictions on one released man. Police later said one suspect was freed under unspecified conditions, and another got eight days’ house arrest.

Israeli election results and Likud fraud claims

The detention of the third suspect was extended for two days, police said. Likud has used the arrests to question the election result. Two days after the first three arrests, police detained four more suspects. Likud has also alleged foreign interference in the vote. The party has not provided evidence for claims against Arab-led parties.

Netanyahu’s parliamentary bloc fell to 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset. That was down from a peak of 68 in the outgoing parliament. A bloc led by Netanyahu’s main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, won 48 seats. Arab-led parties, including Raam, won the remaining 19 seats.

Those opposing Netanyahu together hold enough seats to form a government. It remains unclear if those parties will agree on a coalition. The results are due to be officially certified on Wednesday. After that, President Isaac Herzog will meet each party elected to parliament. Herzog will ask who each party prefers as prime minister.

After consultations, Herzog will pick the candidate seen as best placed to build a coalition. That candidate is most likely Netanyahu or Eisenkot. The choice would begin weeks of coalition talks. If talks fail, Herzog could ask another candidate to try. Otherwise, Israel could face a new election early next year.

Israeli election foreign interference probe and Shin Bet

At the request of Israels election commission, the Shin Bet security service opened an investigation. Eisenkot said on Sunday that Netanyahu was running a planned effort to delegitimise results. Eisenkot said the campaign relied on hints that Qatar supported opposition parties. Eisenkot also said Shin Bet briefed him, but needed more time.

Shin Bet said it was investigating the issue independently of political parties. Qatar denied funding any activity aimed at influencing the election outcome. Allegations about Qatari influence have stirred Israeli politics in other cases. One case involved claims that close aides of Netanyahu accepted money from Qatar. The aides allegedly took the money while working in the prime ministers office.

Israeli election tensions over Arab parties and Raam

By questioning the vote, Netanyahu appears to be trying to block opposition deals with Arab parties. Such an alliance could remove Netanyahu from office. Netanyahu has suggested it would be treasonous for Eisenkot to join with Arab parties. Mansour Abbas, leader of Raam, said the arrests were undemocratic. Mansour Abbas said they aimed to influence election results.

Netanyahus opponents accused Netanyahu of using fear-based messaging against Arab-led parties. They also said the message targeted Israels Arab citizens, around 20 per cent of the population. Yousef Jabareen, leader of the Joint List of Arab parties, pointed to Likud messaging. Yousef Jabareen said much of Likud and Netanyahu content on election day targeted Arab voters.

"In moments of crisis, he reverts to his familiar tactic: racist incitement and the delegitimisation of the Arab public,\" he said. The police releases and court criticism added pressure to Likud’s claims tied to the bribery probe. With results set for certification on Wednesday, attention is shifting to Herzog’s talks. Coalition negotiations will decide whether a new government forms or another election follows.

With inputs from PTI