Likud Alleges Arab Parties Stole Elections Through Criminal Acts

Good Morning, Israel · Thursday, October 29, 2026 · 7:39

Good Morning, Israel · Episode 32

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1. Likud Alleges Arab Parties Stole Elections Through Criminal Acts
2. Israeli Election Results Narrow Political Divide, Coalition Talks Loom
3. Knife Attack Near Israeli Embassy in Serbia; Attacker Killed
4. Herzog Urges Parties to Avoid New Elections Amid Coalition Stalemate
5. US Vice President Vance Opens Secret Talks With Iran Amid Strike Threats
6. US Briefs Gulf Allies on Potential Intense, Short Conflict With Iran

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Maya

The full count is in, and Israel's two big blocs are still well short of a majority.

Daniel

And Likud is now alleging that the election was stolen through fraud in Arab towns.

Maya

This is Good Morning, Israel from baba News. It's Thursday, October twenty-ninth. I'm Maya.

Daniel

And I'm Daniel.

Maya

Yesterday we had the exit polls. Now the regular ballots are counted. Where do things stand?

Daniel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc has fifty-three seats. The change bloc, led by former I D F Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, has forty-eight.

Maya

And the magic number is still sixty-one.

Daniel

Right, a majority in the one hundred and twenty seat Knesset. Neither side is close. The Arab parties hold nineteen seats.

Maya

So add it up and nobody gets there without someone they'd rather not sit with.

Daniel

Exactly. A minority government looks very hard to build. The realistic options being discussed are a unity government, or another election.

Maya

Is the count actually finished, though?

Daniel

Not quite. The Central Elections Committee is still counting hundreds of thousands of double envelopes, those ballots cast outside people's usual polling stations.

Maya

The soldiers, the hospital patients and so on.

Daniel

Right. Final results are expected by Friday. And those envelopes could make a real difference for the ultra-Orthodox parties, the Haredi parties, especially Shas.

Maya

Why Shas in particular?

Daniel

In a race this tight, a single seat moving between parties can change who has leverage in coalition talks. So the smaller parties are watching those envelopes very closely.

Maya

And while the envelopes get opened, the blocs are already maneuvering.

Daniel

Leaders of the change bloc are meeting to coordinate strategy. Netanyahu is in talks with his right-wing partners.

Maya

Which brings us to the accusation that's dominating the morning.

Daniel

The Likud party is accusing Arab parties of stealing the election through criminal offenses, bribery and fraud.

Maya

What exactly is Likud claiming?

Daniel

Likud says there was cash, ballot stuffing and voter fraud at polling stations in Arab communities. It's submitting what it says are hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence to the authorities.

Maya

And it's going further than fraud.

Daniel

It is. Likud alleges the goal was to support terror and to eliminate the Jewish state. Those are Likud's claims, and they haven't been tested by any investigation yet.

Maya

So what is it asking for?

Daniel

A comprehensive investigation by the police and the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service.

Maya

The Shin Bet, for an election complaint. That's unusual.

Daniel

It reflects how seriously Likud is framing it, as a security matter, not just a ballot dispute. Whether the authorities open that kind of investigation is the next thing to watch.

Maya

Does it change the numbers?

Daniel

Not on its own. But nineteen Arab seats is a big part of why neither bloc reaches sixty-one. So if Likud's claims were ever upheld, the math could look very different. For now, it's an allegation.

Maya

Now the man who has to make sense of all this. President Isaac Herzog.

Daniel

Israel's president is mostly ceremonial, but after an election he has one big job. He consults the parties and chooses who gets the first shot at forming a government.

Maya

And what did he say on Wednesday?

Daniel

He urged the parties to avoid another election, and to come into coalition talks with what he called an open mind.

Maya

That's a polite way of saying, please start talking to people you've spent the campaign insulting.

Daniel

Pretty much. He'll start those consultations once he gets the official results next week.

Maya

And then a clock starts.

Daniel

Right. The candidate he chooses gets a mandate with deadlines attached. If nobody manages to put together a majority, the end of that road is new elections.

Maya

And voters showed up in huge numbers to get here.

Daniel

The record turnout we told you about yesterday, seventy-seven point seven percent, is now the official picture. Herzog pointed out it's the highest since nineteen ninety-nine.

Maya

The markets reacted fast, and not happily.

Daniel

No. On Wednesday Tel Aviv stocks fell sharply. The T A one twenty-five index, the main benchmark, dropped two point five percent.

Maya

And the shekel?

Daniel

It weakened two point two percent against the dollar. The dollar rose to about three point one zero shekels. Construction stocks led the decline.

Maya

That's a reversal, isn't it?

Daniel

It is. Earlier there were gains. Investors had been hoping for a clear result, and some for a change of government they thought could improve Israel's international relations.

Maya

So what's spooking them now?

Daniel

The length of the uncertainty. Coalition talks could drag on for months. And another election is a real possibility.

Maya

Abroad now, to a suspected terror attack at Israel's embassy in Serbia.

Daniel

Serbian authorities are investigating it as a terrorist attack. Overnight, an attacker armed with a knife, shouting Allahu Akbar, lightly wounded a Serbian police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, the Serbian capital.

Maya

And the attacker?

Daniel

He was killed by police. No Israeli embassy staff were harmed.

Maya

How is Serbia responding?

Daniel

It has raised its national terror threat level to the highest level.

Maya

And this isn't the first time at that address.

Daniel

No. There was a similar attack at the same location in June. So twice in a matter of months, Israel's embassy in Belgrade has been targeted.

Maya

Which says a lot about the threat Israeli missions face around the world.

Daniel

It does. And it's the local officer at the door who took the blow this time.

Maya

To Iran, where there's a surprising new twist. Yesterday it was the Gulf preparing for war. Today, a letter.

Daniel

According to U S officials, Vice President J D Vance has opened a secret diplomatic channel with Iran. He sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, aiming to restart negotiations.

Maya

Wait, while the President is threatening strikes?

Daniel

Right at the same time. U S officials say the letter was sent at President Donald Trump's direction, to look for common ground and avoid renewed military operations.

Maya

Which isn't exactly what Trump has been saying in public.

Daniel

No, publicly he's taken a stance against negotiations. On a possible strike, he said, everything is possible.

Maya

So, one hand writing letters, the other loading the launchers.

Daniel

That's the picture. The U S military is moving missile defense systems and replenishing ammunition. And as we told you yesterday, the Gulf states have been told to prepare for a short, intense operation after the midterm elections.

Maya

Where does Israel fit?

Daniel

Israel has also reportedly prepared operational plans. Some experts question whether further strikes could fully dismantle Iran's nuclear program, or bring about regime change.

Maya

And Tehran?

Daniel

It's threatening severe retaliation against economic and civilian targets if it's attacked. That's a regime openly saying it would go after civilians, which is exactly why Israel treats it as its main threat.

Maya

And whoever ends up leading Israel will inherit all of this.

Daniel

Probably before the coalition talks are even finished.

Maya

So, the thing to watch. The double envelope count is due to wrap up by tomorrow, Friday, and that's when we find out whether Shas or anyone else gains or loses a seat.

Daniel

Follow Good Morning, Israel so tomorrow's episode is waiting for you.

Maya

See you tomorrow morning.