Eisenkot accuses Netanyahu of campaign to delegitimize Israeli election results

Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud of mounting an organized campaign to undermine the legitimacy of this week’s election results, as Israel faces an uncertain coalition process after neither major bloc secured a parliamentary majority.

“Their statements and talking points were ready. They are doing this because they lost. They do not have a majority,” Eisenkot said Thursday after meeting the head of the Shin Bet and the chairman of the Central Elections Committee over allegations of foreign interference in the vote.

Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party and a former IDF chief of staff, said authorities should investigate any suspected foreign involvement without political interference, but vowed to resist any attempt to obstruct the scheduled swearing-in of the new Knesset.

“One thing is for sure: the days in which Netanyahu uses government institutions against the Israeli interests for his personal interests are over,” he said.

Eisenkot added that “no spin” could change what he characterized as the electorate’s rejection of “the government of October 7 and draft evaders.”

Partial results on Thursday put Netanyahu’s bloc at about 53 seats and Eisenkot’s opposition bloc at 48, with Arab-led parties holding a combined 19 seats. A majority in the 120-seat Knesset requires 61, leaving the formation of Israel’s next government dependent on coalition negotiations.