Israel’s Central Elections Committee has certified last week’s general election results after finding no evidence of fraud — a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to discredit the vote — Al Jazeera reports, citing AFP and AP.

Results were submitted on Wednesday to President Isaac Herzog, who will hold two days of consultations with bloc leaders before choosing who is best placed to form a coalition. Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats on 27 October; Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition took 48; Arab-led Ra’am and the Joint List secured a record 19.

With neither side at the 61 seats needed to govern in the 120-member Knesset, Herzog said both must accept that “not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled” and avoid new elections. “In the current reality, in which there is no clear winner (…) I ask for originality and creativity, courage and goodwill, so that the State of Israel emerges the winner,” he said.

Support soared for Arab-minority lists, outraged by the rhetoric and actions of Netanyahu’s far-right government. Netanyahu and allies have repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that Arab-led parties “stole” the election, possibly with foreign help.

Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, chair of the Central Elections Committee, said those casting doubt pose “a real danger” to Israeli democracy. A review of 9,069 polling stations found no irregularities that changed the result; every complaint was examined, acting director general Dean Livne said.

In the five-member presidium, Yesh Atid and Blue and White voted to ratify; Likud and Shas abstained; Sohlberg cast the deciding vote. Deadlock raises the chance of a unity government or an Eisenkot–Arab alliance; failing that, another election early next year.

Source consulted: Israel vote results confirmed as election commission rejects fraud claims — Al Jazeera.

Image: Kiryat HaMemshala, Jerusalem (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).

Sources consulted: Israel vote results confirmed as election commission rejects fraud claims — Al Jazeera.