Sohlberg Rejects Likud Request to Delay Election Results

Justice Noam Sohlberg has turned down a Likud request to postpone publication of the official results of the 26th Knesset election. Sohlberg chairs the Central Elections Committee, which publishes the official results and submits them to the president. The results will come out as planned on Wednesday, the same day President Isaac Herzog is due to open consultations on who will be tasked with forming Israel's next government.

Likud had pressed for the committee to convene before approving the results to gauge the extent of the suspected irregularities, i24NEWS reported. In a letter, party attorney Ilan Bombach asked the committee's presidium to meet urgently and hear from the head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on the nature and scope of the suspicions and the state of the investigation before certification. Likud has said it will oppose certification at Wednesday's session if no hearing is held. The Religious Zionist Party has not yet decided whether to approve the results.

Certification therefore goes ahead on Wednesday, and Herzog's consultations begin that day. The final count leaves neither bloc with the 61 seats needed for a majority. Netanyahu's bloc holds 53, the rival bloc led by Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot holds 48, and Ra'am and the Joint List hold 19 between them.

Benjamin Netanyahu (Sharon Leibel/Flash90)

On Sunday, Sohlberg appeared in a video with Shin Bet Director David Zini, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and acting committee director-general Dean Livne. He acknowledged serious suspicions of foreign funding aimed at influencing the vote, but said the outcome stands.

"It is our position that, even if the suspicions are substantiated, this does not detract from the integrity of the election process or the election results as a whole," Sohlberg said.

He added that nothing in the statement was "intended to cast aspersions on the voting of the Arab community." The Shin Bet, police and prosecution will investigate together, with Sohlberg overseeing the team. The probe remains covert, rests on classified intelligence and will proceed alongside the completion of the election process.

Likud fired back on Sunday, warning that "a black cloud hangs over the results" until the investigation is finished. The party argued that a swing of 4,612 votes would have cost Ra'am a seat in favor of the right-wing bloc. The Jerusalem Post noted that gaining one seat would bring Netanyahu's camp to 54, still below a majority.

Arutz Sheva reported that a data analyst behind the social media account "Little Moiz" challenged Likud's figure. His calculation factors in the surplus-vote deal Ra'am signed with the Joint List. On his numbers, disqualifying 4,000 Ra'am votes would simply shift a seat to the Joint List. Striking 6,675 votes would cost the Arab parties a seat, but Shas would pick it up. Likud would gain a seat only if 108,448 Ra'am votes were thrown out.

Eisenkot welcomed Sohlberg's statement.

"The vile and malicious attempt to deny the election results, undermine the public's will, smear an entire community and drag Israel into another election has failed," Eisenkot said.

Herzog's office notified the elected factions on Sunday that consultations would begin Wednesday. By law, the president must hand an MK the task of forming a government within seven days of the results being published. That MK then gets 28 days, which the president can extend by as many as 14 more.

The Likud push came after the party held a Sunday meeting on election integrity, where Netanyahu was advised to vote against certifying the results.