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Thursday, October 29, 2026
Elections panel director says claims of widespread fraud appear to be baseless, vote was conducted lawfully
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Acting Central Elections Committee director general Dean Livne rejects allegations of widespread fraud in Tuesday’s election as baseless, saying the vote was conducted lawfully and that to the best of its knowledge, there is no evidence of systematic irregularities.
“The Knesset elections were conducted lawfully. The integrity of the elections at polling stations was rigorously safeguarded, and to the best of our knowledge, there is no basis for allegations of systematic violations of election integrity,” Livne writes in a letter to Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak, who sits on the committee.
Livne says that a request by CEC chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg for a Shin Bet investigation concerned classified intelligence that warrants further examination, and that the information has not yet been verified.
The clarification comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies are alleging, without publicly presenting evidence, that the election was stolen through foreign-funded efforts to boost Arab voter turnout.
The Times of Israel Community.