Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud has called the so-called "Ra'am-gate" affair "an earthquake" and declared that "the elections in Israel were stolen." The party demanded that no Zionist party cooperate with Ra'am or the Joint List, the two Arab parties at the center of its accusations.
Ra'am, formally the United Arab List, is an Islamist party led by Mansour Abbas, while the Joint List as an alliance of Arab political factions. Preliminary results on Wednesday projected 19 seats for the two parties combined in the 120-member Knesset. Neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the opposition holds a clear majority.
Likud's new statement pointed to allegations that foreign actors had interfered in the vote and bribed voters to support Arab parties. The party called this "an attack on democracy."
In Likud's account, the aim was to allow a foreign takeover of the Knesset, to advance the Islamization of Israel and to bring down right-wing rule. The party said this would lead the IDF to retreat on every front, and it named Iran in particular.
Along with the boycott demand, Likud called on the Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security agency, and the Israel Police to open an immediate investigation into what it described as crimes.
