Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that suspected financial support from Qatar and Turkey may have swayed the results of the recent national elections. In his first public address since losing his parliamentary majority, Netanyahu claimed that “Radical Islam” posed a threat to Israel via Arab political parties, whom he accused of supporting terrorism. Israeli election authorities have already certified the outcomes and found no evidence of fraud that would change the result.
The comments follow warnings from Gadi Eisenkot, who said Netanyahu and the Likud party launched an organized campaign to delegitimize the vote to prevent the seating of the new government. The upcoming Knesset will be composed of 67 members from the “life, revival, and change” bloc, including 19 Arab representatives, against 53 for the opposing side. Haaretz reporter Amos Harel wrote that Netanyahu may engage in a domestic and foreign conflict to maintain his grip on power.