Likud says Arab parties stole the election, asks police and Shin Bet to probe

Likud, the party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has accused Arab political parties of stealing Israel's general election and has called on the police and the Shin Bet security service to open an investigation, according to several Israeli outlets. The Jerusalem Post reported that Likud alleged the Arab parties had 'stole' the vote and was demanding an inquiry. The election was held on October 27, 2026, according to a photo caption published with that report.

In a statement carried in full by journalist Amit Segal on his Telegram channel, Likud said it was passing hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence to the police, the Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee. The party described the Arab parties as supporting terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state, and said serious criminal offences had been committed at many polling stations in Arab communities. The Times of Israel said the accusation followed a record performance by the Arab parties.

What Likud alleges

According to the statement as published by Amit Segal and summarised by News.co.il, Likud's list of alleged offences includes bribery, threats, violence, forgery and the use of banned software to drive voter turnout. The party said its material covered envelopes containing cash together with ballots for Ra'am, threats and violence directed at polling station staff, people voting under duplicate identities, and discrepancies between the number of voters recorded and the number of ballot envelopes counted. Segal's version of the statement refers to thousands of envelopes with cash and to several voters standing behind the screen at once.

News.co.il reported that Likud wants the police and the Shin Bet to carry out a thorough investigation and to bring those involved to justice. None of the reports indicate that the evidence itself has been made public.

The bodies involved

The Shin Bet, also known as the Israel Security Agency, is Israel's domestic security service. Its responsibilities include counterterrorism and protecting state institutions. The Central Elections Committee is the body that administers national elections in Israel, including the running of polling stations and the counting of ballots.

Ra'am, the only party Likud named in the statement as reported, is an Arab party; its name is a Hebrew acronym and it is often referred to in English as the United Arab List. In Israeli elections, voters place a paper slip bearing a party's letters into an envelope behind a screen, which is why Likud's allegations focus on envelopes, ballot slips and the number of people behind the screen.

Contradicting statements from officials

Ynet reported that only the day before, Shin Bet head Zini had said the election was proper and had been supervised in an inspiring way. Ynet described Likud's claim as unprecedented and presented it as an escalation of what it called a delegitimisation campaign by Netanyahu against the Arab parties, following what it described as their huge achievement in the vote. That characterisation is Ynet's own.

The Central Elections Committee told Ynet that it had begun a review, as it does in every election, and that it was examining Likud's request. The committee's response, as reported, did not say whether it had found any irregularities.

How the reports differ

The reports agree on the core of Likud's allegations and on its demand for an investigation. They differ in framing. Amit Segal and News.co.il largely relay the party's statement. Ynet sets it against the Shin Bet chief's earlier assessment and describes it as part of a broader campaign. The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel place quotation marks around the word stolen, and The Times of Israel links the claim directly to the Arab parties' record result.

What the reports do not say

The reports do not give the final seat counts for the Arab parties or for Likud, or explain how the alleged fraud would have affected the overall outcome. They do not identify specific polling stations or towns where the alleged offences took place, and they do not describe the evidence beyond Likud's own summary. None of the reports carries a response from Ra'am or any other Arab party, and none says whether the police or the Shin Bet have opened an investigation. Whether the Central Elections Committee's review will lead to any change in the results is not addressed.