Israel's election panel certifies results after review of 9,000 polling stations

Israel's Central Elections Committee has formally approved the results of last week's general election, after announcing that a review of the vote turned up nothing that compromised its integrity or altered the outcome. Haaretz reported that the committee's announcement on Wednesday morning followed checks at more than 9,000 polling stations, which it said amounted to roughly 75 percent of the total.

Representatives of Likud and Shas did not back the ratification. According to The Times of Israel, the committee's presidium approved the results with the support of the Yesh Atid and Blue and White representatives, while the Likud and Shas members abstained and the chair, Justice Noam Sohlberg, cast the deciding vote in favour. Ynet reported that the session included a shouting match.

What the committee found

In its official statement, as reported by Ynet, the committee said there were "no findings" of damage to the integrity of the election or of any change to the results. Ynet described the committee as declaring that its oversight operation had concluded without detecting irregularities.

The announcement came against a backdrop of claims from Likud, the party of outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the election had been stolen. Haaretz framed the committee's finding as coming amid Netanyahu's claims. Ynet also placed the decision in the context of a strongly worded statement by the attorney general, Israel's chief government legal adviser, directed against the head of the Shin Bet, the country's domestic security agency. The reports available to us do not detail the content of that statement.

How certification works

The Central Elections Committee is the body that organises and oversees Israel's national elections and certifies their results. It is chaired by a justice of the Supreme Court; Sohlberg holds that role in this election.

The decisive step is taken by the presidium, a smaller body within the committee. The Times of Israel explained that it has five members: the chair plus one representative from each of the four largest parliamentary factions. In this case those were Likud and Shas, from the outgoing governing coalition, and Yesh Atid and Blue and White, from the opposition. With two in favour and two abstaining, the chair's vote settled the matter.

The Times of Israel said the results now pass to the full committee, which also includes representatives of smaller parties, though it described that stage as largely symbolic once the presidium has voted.

The arguments in the room

N12's political correspondent Dafna Liel reported that representatives of the outgoing coalition bloc brought a range of complaints against the committee during the discussion, among them objections relating to the use of what she called "the Elector" in Arab communities. Opposition representatives, in turn, accused the coalition side of a deliberate effort to cast doubt on the election outcome.

Likud and Shas together formed the core of the outgoing government. Shas is an ultra-Orthodox party that has long been allied with Likud. Their abstention, rather than a vote against, did not prevent ratification.

What happens next

According to The Times of Israel, the certified results were due to be handed to President Isaac Herzog later the same day. In Israel's system the president then holds consultations with the leaders of each party elected to the Knesset, the parliament, asking whom they recommend as prime minister. The Times of Israel reported that Herzog is expected to give the mandate to form a government to the candidate who receives the most recommendations from party leaders.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports explains what the "Elector" complaint concerns or what evidence, if any, the coalition representatives presented for it. They do not say what the review found at the remaining polling stations beyond the share Haaretz cited, or how those stations were selected. No response from Likud or Shas to the certification has been reported, and the reports do not say whether either party intends to challenge the results further.