Israel certifies election result, rejecting Likud's claims that the vote was stolen

Israel's Central Elections Committee has certified the results of last week's general election after finding no evidence of fraud, despite claims from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allies that the vote was stolen.

The committee said it checked 9,069 polling stations and found nothing that affected the outcome. Its chairman, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, cast the deciding vote and warned that people questioning the results without evidence were endangering Israeli democracy.

Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats and Gadi Eisenkot's party 48, while the Arab-led parties Ra'am and the Joint List took a record 19 seats between them. No group reached the 61 seats needed to govern alone.

Netanyahu's camp has accused Arab-led parties, without evidence, of rigging the vote with foreign help. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the election was stolen. Qatar has denied claims that it funded Arab parties.

President Isaac Herzog has started consultations with party leaders before choosing who will try to form a coalition. If no government can be formed, Israelis may have to vote again early next year.