Elections Chief: Knesset Majority Has No Veto Power Over Results

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political bloc holds 53 seats in the new parliament, a number that falls short of the 61 required for a governing majority.

This completed count is the central fact in a dispute now dividing the outgoing Knesset. Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg rejected a demand from the Likud party on Monday to receive a detailed briefing on suspected foreign interference before the official results are approved.

In a letter to attorney Ilan Bombach, the Likud representative and committee deputy chairman, Sohlberg argued that the validity of the election does not rely on the consent of the outgoing majority. He stated that allowing the committee to block publication would extend the current Knesset's term and contradict fundamental democratic principles.

Likud has spent days alleging that Arab parties stole the election. The party has urged other factions not to rely on Arab representatives to form a government or replace the Knesset speaker. Police told reporters they have no investigative or intelligence support for these broad claims of a stolen election.

Bombach sought an urgent meeting with the committee leadership and Shin Bet Director David Zini before the scheduled session on Wednesday. He argued that the seriousness of the allegations required members to review specific investigative steps and findings. He claimed that approving the results without this information would be a failure of duty, noting that members could sign confidentiality agreements to handle classified material.

Sohlberg dismissed the premise that an active investigation could serve as grounds to withhold publication. He pointed to Section 11 of the Basic Law, which mandates that election results be published in the official gazette within eight days of the vote. He stated that no authority has been granted the discretion to ignore this deadline.

The chairman clarified the legal role of the committee. Under Regulation 125, the leadership is responsible for totaling valid votes and calculating seat distribution. The full committee approves these calculations. Neither body has the power to invalidate votes, substitute different results, or decide that results will not be published.

Sohlberg noted that extending a Knesset's term requires legislation supported by at least 80 members of Knesset under special circumstances. He characterized Bombach's request as an attempt to trigger such an extension based solely on suspicions. He warned that disclosing more information than what is already public could disrupt the ongoing investigation by the Shin Bet, police, and State Attorney's Office.

The legal dispute follows Sohlberg's public statement on Sunday. He said that even if foreign funding suspicions were substantiated, they would not undermine the integrity of the election as a whole. He also cautioned against casting aspersions on Arab voters.

Likud challenged this assurance, asking how Sohlberg could reach that conclusion before the investigation ended. Gadi Eisenkot, the chairman of the Yashar party, accused Likud and Netanyahu on Monday of attacking the legitimacy of the results. He described the party's conduct as a direct attack on Israeli democracy.