Arab Israeli parties “trying to steal election,” Netanyahu claims

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply attacked Arab parties on the day of the parliamentary election, accusing them of trying to “steal the election.” Three high-ranking representatives of the Israeli Arab Raam party were arrested in the south of the country with envelopes full of cash, Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

Election authorities said the people “had not yet reached the polling stations” and were picked up near their homes. An investigation is ongoing. “There are no similar incidents of this type nationwide, this was an isolated case,” emphasized the Central Election Commission.

In Israel, people will elect a new parliament on Tuesday for the first time since the Hamas attack on the country. The vote is seen as a directional choice in the heavily divided country. A head-to-head race is expected between the right-wing camp of long-time Prime Minister Netanyahu and the bloc of center-right opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot.

There was a huge rush after the polls opened in the morning. Netanyahu called on Israelis to vote "right" on Tuesday as he cast his vote in Jerusalem. Raam is a relatively small party. However, if the election results are as close as expected, she could play a crucial role in forming an opposition-led coalition.

Netanyahu repeatedly attacked Israeli Arab parties during the election campaign and stoked fears of a Palestinian state.

Police arrest armed man

On the sidelines of the Israeli parliamentary elections, police arrested a man armed with a knife who, according to his party, approached opposition politician Jair Golan with threatening intent during a campaign appearance. “Incitement and violence will not intimidate us,” the left-wing politician said after the incident in Tel Aviv.

Golan blamed Netanyahu's "poison machine" for the incident. Golan is the leader of the left-wing Ha-Demokratim (Hebrew: The Democrats).

According to its own information, the central election commission recorded the highest turnout in the parliamentary election since 1977. By 12 p.m. (local time/11 a.m. CET), 31.5 percent of those eligible to vote had cast their vote. That is more than three percentage points more compared to the last election in 2022.

Long queues formed in front of many polling stations, as eyewitnesses from the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv and the predominantly Arab city of Taibe reported. According to media reports, 70,000 Israelis traveled from abroad to cast their votes there.