Election chief rejects Likud bid to delay certifying Israeli result
Justice Noam Sohlberg refused a Likud request to postpone certification of the election, ruling that the Central Elections Committee has no authority to withhold results or intervene in an ongoing investigation. Avigdor Liberman said he would not serve with Benjamin Netanyahu “under any circumstances”. Anti-Netanyahu parties hold 67 of 120 Knesset seats.
Likud continues to claim the vote was “stolen” by non-Zionist Arab parties, citing suspicions of foreign interference. Its lawyer, Ilan Bombach, sought an urgent meeting before certification; Sohlberg declined. President Herzog is due to receive the official results, after which he must consult the parties on who should form a government. Liberman said coalition figures had approached him with “the strangest proposals”, including rotation deals, but the arithmetic currently favours the opposition bloc.