Despite Netanyahu's appeal, Israel officially certifies the election results

Israel has officially certified the results of last week's elections, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party contesting the results.

On Wednesday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog received the results from the head of the Central Elections Commission, Judge Noam Solberg. “Public trust in the electoral process is a valuable asset, and we all have a responsibility to preserve it, whether we are elected officials, public office holders, or ordinary individuals,” Solberg said in a statement. “It is easy to undermine this trust, but restoring it is extremely difficult.”

The elections resulted in Netanyahu not obtaining an absolute majority in the Israeli Knesset, in light of record participation from Arab voters and a strong performance by opposition parties seeking to oust him.

Meanwhile, the head of the Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet), David Zinni, seeks to open an investigation into the leaders of the Arab parties, but he did not provide any evidence to support this step, while the Israeli government’s judicial advisor, Gali Beharav Meara, refused to allow such an investigation to be conducted in the absence of concrete evidence.

In an attempt to dispel allegations of fraud promoted by the Israeli right, Herzog said: “There is a need to be patient. The circumstances of the investigation will be clarified in a professional manner, with cooperation between all parties in the special investigation team, and I trust these procedures that have been followed for a long time.”

On Wednesday evening, Herzog is scheduled to begin meetings with representatives of the parties that won seats in the new Knesset, starting with the smaller parties. These meetings will conclude on Thursday, after which the name of the candidate who will be recommended to form the government will be announced.

It appears that Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main competitor, has the support of a majority of the members of the new Knesset, but the complicated path ahead of him to reach the presidency of the government most likely passes through the Arab parties.