Netanyahu trying to undermine elections through an ugly delegitimisation campaign against Arab Israelis: Yair Golan

“Netanyahu suffered a crushing democratic defeat. The public fired him, and he refuses to accept the verdict of the voters. Now he is trying to undermine the election results through an ugly delegitimization campaign against the will of the public, and against the Arab public in particular,” Yair Golan posted on X.

Chairman of Israel’s Democratic Party, Yair Golan said on Thursday that incumbent Prime Minister Netanyahu has “suffered a crushing defeat” and is now trying to “undermine the election results through an ugly delegitimisation campaign against the will of the public”, specifically against Arab Israelis. “Netanyahu suffered a crushing democratic defeat. The public fired him, and he refuses to accept the verdict of the voters. Now he is trying to undermine the election results through an ugly delegitimisation campaign against the will of the public, and against the Arab public in particular,” Yair Golan posted on X.

Amid the Shin Bet probing allegations of possible foreign interference in the recently concluded Knesset elections, Golan has vowed to make sure that Netanyahu “vacates the (Prime Minister’s) chair”. While saying that any genuine suspicion regarding the damage to integrity of elections must be “investigated to the end”, he said that one must not forget that one of the “most serious Qatari involvement were carried out in Netanyahu’s office”, by his closest advisor.

“Any genuine suspicion of damage to the integrity of the elections must be investigated to the end. And it must not be forgotten for a moment: the betrayal and the most serious Qatari involvement were carried out in Netanyahu's office, by his closest advisor. We're still waiting for Urich to be fired,” Golan wrote on X. Golan referred to allegations involving Yonatan Urich, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been barred from contact Netanyahu amid a probe for security-related offenses, including the delivery of secret information and the destruction of evidence, according to Jerusalem Post.

The allegations refer to an incident popularly known as “Qatargate” affair, in which it is alleged that Urich, along with other officials, were receiving illicit payments from Qatari-linked sources to promote pro-Qatari messaging within Israel, according to Jerusalem Post. Earlier today, the decision of the Israel Election Committee to order an investigation into allegations of foreign funding into Tuesday's poll has created a political firestorm in Jerusalem.

Likud Party boss and incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the decision as an 'earthquake' and called on Zionist parties to reject any tie-up with Arab Parties. "The Ra'amgate affair is an earthquake. They stole the elections in Israel! The judge Solberg's statements about the involvement of foreign entities that interfered and bribed voters in favour of the Arab parties are an unprecedented shock. This is an attack on democracy whose purpose is to lead to a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamization of Israel, and the overthrow of right-wing rule in order to lead to retreat and defeat of the IDF in all arenas - and primarily Iran. After it was revealed that foreign entities tried to take over the Knesset, it is clear that no Zionist party should cooperate with Ra'am and the Joint List, replace the Knesset Speaker through votes bought for cash, and form a government that is dangerous to Israel. We demand to act immediately and with all means available to the Shin Bet and the police to investigate these crimes," Netanyahu said in his post on X.

The call to action follows Israeli Central Elections Committee Chair Justice Noam Sohlberg asking Shin Bet chief David Zini to investigate allegations of foreign interference in Tuesday’s election. Shin Bet is currently probing allegations of Qatari influence in the recently concluded elections. (ANI)