Sohlberg rejects Likud bid to condition election results on interference briefing

Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg on Monday rejected Likud’s request for a briefing on suspected foreign interference before publication of the election results. In a letter to attorney Ilan Bombach, Likud’s representative and a committee deputy chairman, Sohlberg said the outgoing parliamentary majority and its representatives had no power to make publication conditional on their consent.

The completed vote count gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats, leaving it short of a parliamentary majority. The official results are due to be published and delivered to President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday. Likud had spent days alleging that Arab parties had stolen the election and urging other parties not to depend on Arab representatives to form a government or replace the Knesset speaker. Police said they had no investigative or intelligence support for the broader allegations of a stolen election.

Bombach requested an urgent meeting of the committee’s leadership before Wednesday’s session, with Shin Bet Director David Zini taking part. He sought information about the suspicions, investigative measures and findings, arguing that the allegations were too serious, and their extent too uncertain, for members to approve publication without a briefing. He maintained that members could review classified information after signing confidentiality commitments and noted his own high security clearance.

Sohlberg rejected both the request for investigative information and the argument that the investigation could justify withholding the results. He pointed to Section 11 of Basic Law: The Knesset, which requires publication in the official gazette within eight days of voting. No authority had been given discretion to ignore that deadline, he said. Those legally entitled to contest the results could pursue a court challenge under the applicable conditions.

The committee’s responsibilities concern the calculation of results, Sohlberg explained. Under Regulation 125 of the Knesset Elections Regulations, the chairman and deputies total valid votes and calculate seat allocations using the legal formula and material supplied by election committees. The full committee then approves those calculations. Neither the leadership nor the full committee can invalidate votes, replace the results or prevent their publication.

Sohlberg described Bombach’s proposal as effectively seeking to prolong the outgoing Knesset’s term, something suspicions alone could not justify, even during an investigation. He said interpreting the committee’s powers that way would violate fundamental democratic principles. The Basic Law permits an extension only through legislation backed by at least 80 lawmakers, in special circumstances that prevent elections from taking place on schedule, and only for as long as those circumstances require.

The requested briefing also exceeded the authority of the committee’s leadership and full membership, Sohlberg wrote. Releasing information beyond what was already public was expected to disrupt the investigation. He said the Shin Bet, police and State Attorney’s Office were working intensively to finish their inquiries as soon as possible.

On Sunday, Sohlberg had publicly said that even substantiated suspicions of foreign funding would not compromise the integrity of the election or its overall results. He also warned against casting suspicion on Arab voters. Likud disputed his assurance, questioning how he could draw that conclusion while the investigation remained unfinished.

Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot on Monday accused Likud and Netanyahu of undermining the legitimacy of both the results and the elections committee. He characterized their conduct as a direct attack on Israeli democracy.