Israeli president begins coalition talks as election dispute continues

Israeli President Isaac Herzog began formal consultations on forming a new government on Wednesday after being handed the official result of the October 27 parliamentary vote, which stripped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's alliance of its majority. "I intend to hold open, frank and thoroughly critical discussions with the representatives of the parliamentary groups," Herzog said, adding that he would also "raise difficult questions." The president said he hoped for "originality and creativity, courage and goodwill" to allow Israel to "ultimately emerge as the winner," in light of the lack of a clear winner.

Herzog aims to avoid new elections if possible. Tough negotiations ahead Representatives of the various parties are due to meet Herzog individually at his Jerusalem residence until Thursday evening. Each party will recommend a candidate to be tasked with forming a government.

Traditionally, the president selects the candidate he believes has the best chance of securing a parliamentary majority. The person does not need to be the leader of the largest party. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party won the most seats in the 120-member Knesset, securing 27, followed by Gadi Eisenkot's centrist Yashar party with 21.

Neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the opposition secured the 61 seats needed for a majority, leaving the formation of a new government uncertain. Eisenkot is nevertheless expected to receive the most recommendations from the parties, although forming a coalition with Arab parties in order to achieve a majority could prove a struggle.

Election fraud row continues Meanwhile, a bitter dispute over the election results continued on Wednesday. The Central Elections Committee said it had completed its review of the vote and found "no evidence of irregularities affecting the integrity or outcome" of the election. The committee said it had investigated all complaints and would submit the official results to Herzog on Wednesday before publishing them in accordance with the law.

However, Amit Halevi, a lawmaker from Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, announced his resignation from the committee, according to the news portal ynet. Halevi argued that the committee had no authority to certify the results as long as serious allegations of foreign interference remained unresolved.

Election interference claims The allegations emerged after Arab parties nearly doubled their representation in parliament to 19 seats, prompting Netanyahu's Likud party to accuse them of electoral fraud, without providing evidence. Israeli media also reported suspicions that Qatar had financed efforts to mobilize Arab voters, allegations rejected by Doha and for which no evidence has been made public.

The controversy intensified after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Tuesday rejected a request by Shin Bet domestic intelligence chief David Zini to question four Arab lawmakers. She said there was insufficient evidence to justify questioning them. Zini had been personally selected for the intelligence post by Netanyahu.

Likud subsequently accused Baharav-Miara of "tying the hands" of the intelligence service and obstructing an investigation into alleged election manipulation. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also accused the attorney general of trying to prevent an investigation into election fraud, claiming on X that the election had been "stolen." Opposition reacts angrily Eisenkot, a former military chief seeking to replace Netanyahu as prime minister, accused the premier and his Likud party of undermining democracy and the rule of law.

"In their desperation, Likud and Netanyahu are trying to incite a pogrom against democracy and the rule of law. They are trying to drag us all into a dangerous constitutional crisis," Eisenkot wrote on X late Tuesday. Opposition leader Yair Lapid described the allegations as a "direct threat to democracy by people unwilling to admit their defeat" and called on opposition parties to move quickly to form an alternative government.