‘Greatest Election Fraud’: Israel PM Netanyahu on New Coalition

Netanyahu accused the newly formed coalition of “endangering Israel” in his comments.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, 6 June, said that the newly formed eight-party coalition that is expected to defeat him is the result of "the greatest election fraud" in the history of democracy, as per a Reuters report.

The coalition is led by right-winger Naftali Bennett and centrist Yair Lapid. The two will take turns as the prime minister, with Bennett taking the first period of two years.

Netanyahu's accusation stems from Bennett's reneging on his earlier made vow that the the former would not partner with Arab, left-wing or centrist parties.

Netanyahu's Comments

"We are witnessing the greatest election fraud in the history of the country, in my opinion, in the history of any democracy," the Prime Minister had said, adding that it is due to this falsity that the people of the country feel justifiably deceived.

Netanyahu also accused the coalition of “endangering Israel” and asserted his intentions to strongly contest its formation.

"We, my friends and I in Likud, we will vehemently oppose the establishment of this dangerous government of fraud and surrender. And if, God forbid, it is established, we will bring it down very quickly," he said, as per a Reuters report.

The Likud party chief also asserted that the new coalition, due to its factionalised nature, will not be able to withstand an advance from the United States, nor will it be able to adequately deal with Gaza's Hamas militants who threatened Israel's security in the war that occurred last month.

Netanyahu also levelled his condemnation against social media platforms Facebook and Twitter, alleging that the two were obstructing right-wing criticism of the new coalition.

The Prime Minister's allegations comes at a time when Israel's domestic security chief has issued a public warning about the chances of political violence, noting the escalation of violent and inciting discourse on social media.

(With inputs from Reuters.)