Police deny Arab voter fraud claims despite bribery arrests

Likud alleged that Arab parties stole the election through criminal activity, including bribery, threats, and forgery.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel Police on Thursday rejected claims of widespread voter fraud in the Arab sector during Tuesday’s national elections, issuing a statement that denied a claim by the Likud party questioning the record results for Arab parties.

“The elections in the State of Israel were stolen by Arab parties that support terrorism and the destruction of the Jewish state through serious criminal offenses involving bribery, threats, violence, forgery, and the use of prohibited software to mobilize voters,” Likud said in a media statement.

Police, however, said in a press release that “only a small number of [isolated] incidents concerning electoral integrity” occurred on Election Day.

They added that the number of questionable incidents was smaller when “compared with previous elections.”

The statement also said there “is no investigative or intelligence evidence to support the claims” made by Likud that Arab parties had stolen the election.

The police statement came amid scrutiny of an alleged cash-for-votes scheme in the Bedouin town of Rahat. On Monday night, the eve of the election, three men were arrested over their alleged involvement in the effort.

Police raided the suspects’ homes and reportedly found tens of thousands of shekels in cash, ballot slips bearing the name of Ra’am — the Arab party led by Mansour Abbas — and other evidence that could point to voter bribery. The allegations remain under investigation.

The final election results had not been officially certified as of Thursday morning, as votes cast by diplomats, police officers, soldiers, and other eligible voters who did not vote in person were still being counted. Current estimates indicated that Arab parties had won a record 19 Knesset seats.

The two main Arab political groupings are the Joint List, an alliance of three smaller factions, and Ra’am, which split from the Joint List several years ago and is headed by Abbas. The Joint List includes factions with anti-Zionist and communist ideological roots, while Ra’am is associated with the Islamic Movement’s Southern Branch.

On election day, several polling stations in Arab municipalities were reportedly closed after turnout reached 100 percent, prompting additional scrutiny of voting procedures in those communities.