Israel Certifies Oct 27 Vote Despite Fraud Probes and Coalition Deadlock

The transfer of power in Israel proceeds according to the calendar despite active probes into alleged electoral misconduct. President Isaac Herzog accepted the formal certification of the October 27 election results on Wednesday. This move clears the path for government formation talks even as security agencies investigate potential irregularities.

Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, chair of the Central Election Committee, presented the certified documents to Herzog at the President’s Residence. The committee’s 15 opposition representatives approved the outcome. The 14 representatives of the outgoing coalition abstained. Two members of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party voted against certification. A five-member presidium had previously approved the results for ratification earlier in the day.

The certification follows a review of protocols from 9,069 polling stations. The committee found no irregularities that compromised the integrity of the vote. Sohlberg stated that the committee lacks the authority to reject the voters' decision. He warned that casting doubt on the official results poses a real danger to democracy. He noted that even if fraud suspicions in the Arab community proved true, the scale would likely be too small to change the final outcome.

Two investigations remain open. The Shin Bet and Mossad are examining intelligence that money from Qatar and other nations reached the Joint List of Arab parties via disguised donations. The agencies indicated that thousands of people were involved in these influence operations. They described the actors as having concealed or hostile interests. A separate police probe is investigating allegations of vote buying in the Negev region. No public evidence yet shows that this activity altered the vote count.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reacted sharply to the findings. He called for the arrest of Arab party leaders for questioning. He demanded an immediate freeze on the certification process, arguing the election was stolen. Likud MK Amit Halevi resigned from the committee. He stated that the body should certify the choice of citizens rather than foreign rulers.

Herzog expressed full confidence in the law enforcement agencies handling the claims. He condemned what he described as coarse and racist rhetoric directed at Arab Israelis during the campaign. He urged political factions to find compromises to form a government and avoid new elections. The results have been published in the state gazette as required by law.

Herzog is expected to begin consultations with Knesset factions to assign the mandate for government formation. The designated leader has up to 42 days to build a coalition. Herzog called for creativity and goodwill to resolve the current stalemate.