00:00And Israel's elections have delivered a political cliffhanger.
00:05Now, there is a very serious allegation of vote chori or election theft.
00:10An allegation that's been leveled by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party.
00:16With more than 90% of the votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu's alliance is projected to win 53 seats in the
00:23120-member kereson.
00:25The opposition bloc, led by former army chief Gadi Aizenkot, is on course for about 48 seats.
00:31While the Arab-led parties are projected to secure a historic 19 seats combined.
00:37But the magic number is 61 and neither bloc is anywhere close to a clear majority.
00:45The battle is not just about numbers.
00:47In a sharply worded statement, Benjamin Netanyahu's led Likud Party has alleged that the elections were stolen
00:54by Arab parties citing alleged threats, violence at polling booths, multiple voting behind curtains
01:00and the use of prohibited software to mobilize voters.
01:05Benjamin Netanyahu has actually gone a step further.
01:07He's branded this controversy Ra'am Gate and alleged that foreign funds were used to boost Arab turnout.
01:16He's framed the dispute as an attempt to push Islamization of Israel and mount what he calls is a foreign
01:24takeover of the Kereset.
01:26Claims that are yet to be independently verified, but this controversy is now escalating into a national security investigation.
01:34The head of Israel's Central Election Committee has ordered the Shin Bet, the country's internal intelligence agency,
01:41to investigate suspected foreign interference in parliamentary elections.
01:45The move follows what has been described as an exceptionally grave alert over allegations of improper foreign funding aimed at
01:54influencing election results.
01:56Investigators have been asked to establish where the money from foreign entities and individuals was used to interfere in Israel's
02:05democratic process.
02:06So Israel now faces two parallel battles.
02:10The high-stake negotiations over who can command a parliamentary majority and a growing dispute over the very integrity of
02:18these elections.
02:19Pranay Upadhyay is on Ground Zero. He gets us more on the story.
02:24Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took it to social media.
02:27He posted a social media post on his social media timeline saying that there has been widespread fraud, widespread misappropriation
02:37as far as channeling of the funding is concerned to consolidate Arab voters.
02:41And since the Arab parties have secured these 19 seats, which is unprecedented in the electoral history of Israel,
02:47So therefore, he is trying to call this out an unnatural outcome of the electoral process.
02:52And that's why he has not only challenged it, but asked the Election Committee, which is the Election Commission equivalent
02:58of Israel,
03:00and asked them to investigate.
03:02And thereafter, the Election Committee has ordered Shin Bet to investigate these matters and these allegations.
03:08However, primarily, they said that they did not find any substantial case of electoral irregularities.
03:16And, you know, these elections were closely monitored by around 100,000 personals who were deployed for the free and
03:25fair conduct of the elections.
03:26But there have been some instances here and there where, like, you know, around three people were arrested with a
03:32large sum of cash.
03:33But, you know, out of them, one was released and two are still being questioned.
03:39So there is no widespread, there is no evidence of a widespread, you know, misappropriation or irregularity or, you know,
03:46the foreign funding of the election.
03:48But since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has leveled these allegations, therefore, it is being investigated by Shin Bet,
03:55which is equivalent to, you know, our Intelligence Bureau in India, and it's a premier police and investigating agency of
04:02Israel.
04:03First, we don't know the final results, but whatever the majority they voted for, this has to be the results.
04:12It has to be acceptable and respectable.
04:14This is the Democrat country, right?
04:16So, whatever is going to happen, it is.
04:20So, anyone who doesn't accept it has a choice.
04:23There's many flights leaving Israel every other day.
04:26They can leave the country.
04:27So, but if you want to live here, you have to accept it.
04:31Our power in the Knesset is very decisive, is very crucial.
04:36And as we have promised our community, we would like to use this power to facilitate getting rid of Netanyahu's
04:46government and hopefully helping to change the political situation in Israel.
04:56And my colleague, Pranay Upadhyay, now joins me for more on the story.
05:00Pranay, is there any more clarity on the situation on ground?
05:05And what about these very serious charges of vote chori that apparently Shin Bet will now investigate?
05:13This is actually taking a serious turn and it has become an international issue to guard because just now, you
05:19look at the government of Qatar and its foreign ministry spokesperson has put out a statement saying that unnecessary Qatar's
05:24name is being dragged into domestic political controversy of Israel.
05:27And in fact, you know, Judge Solberg also had a meeting with Gadi Eisenkot regarding these investigations and also these
05:37allegations.
05:38So, definitely Shin Bet, which is the equivalent of our Intelligence Bureau and one of the most powerful institutions of
05:47Israel would be investigating these allegations.
05:49Though there are no on-ground evidences or reports, you know, clearly, which actually suggests that there has been a
05:57mass rigging of the election.
05:59But certainly, as Prime Minister Netanyahu and his liquid party has given complaints to the Election Committee of Israel, this
06:05matter is being investigated.
06:07But having said that, almost 95, over 95 percent of voting, vote count has already been done.
06:13And in fact, the Election Committee of Israel has said that they would be concluding the double envelope or the
06:19judicial votes counting to be concluded by the end of the day.
06:24And, you know, they are expecting to conclude this process and announce the election result by Friday, which is 4th
06:32of November, you know, by Friday or maybe like, you know, in one day or two.
06:37Then it's up to the President of Israel to decide who he invites, whether it's the single largest party, which
06:43is Benjamin Netanyahu's liquid party, or whoever he deems, he deems fit.
06:49Okay, who can form a stable government?
06:53Yeah, either way, in that case, the claim of Prime Minister Netanyahu is quite strong because his party is the
06:58single largest party, his coalition is the single largest coalition.
07:01And now, he has actually created a very interesting situation and has put pressure on the other party, opposition party,
07:10to take the support of the Arab parties because, you know, Mansoor, Ram party chief, Mohamed Mansoor, had a meeting
07:16with Yair Golan and some of the other political partners in the opposition bloc.
07:22So, we have to see that who now switches the side and who forms the government.
07:26Very interesting developments. Keep tracking that story. I will come back to you for more Pranayupadhyay in Israel for the
07:31moment. Many thanks for joining me.
