NETANYAHU'S PARTY CLAIMS ISRAEL'S ELECTION WAS STOLEN. NOW WHAT?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party alleged Thursday that Israel's election earlier in the week was stolen by Arab-majority parties, helped by foreign funding that amounted to vote-buying, CBS News reported.

The claim came as final results showed Netanyahu's bloc has lost its majority in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, in the country's first election since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.

Israel's Arab-majority parties had their highest turnout ever in Tuesday's election, winning a record haul of seats in the 120-seat Knesset — and a potentially decisive role in forming the next government.

In one of the election's stranger footnotes, a Jewish ex-police officer and self-described Zionist is set to enter parliament as a member of Ra'am, an Arab-led party that won eight seats — an unlikely pairing that captures how scrambled Israel's politics have become.

Whether the country's Jewish-led opposition can work with the Arab-led parties to assemble the 61 seats needed to govern remains the central question of the coalition talks now underway.