Ben-Gvir demands arrest of Arab party leaders after election surge

• The demand follows allegations from Netanyahu’s Likud party claiming Tuesday’s legislative elections were "stolen"
• Police and the Central Elections Committee stated that election day proceeded with minimal irregular incidents 

'Israeli' far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Thursday called on the Shin Bet internal security service to arrest leaders of Arab political factions.

Ben-Gvir urged the 'Israel' Security Agency (Shin Bet) to take immediate law enforcement measures against Arab party figures.

"The Shin Bet must order, already this morning, the arrest of the heads of the Arab parties suspected of involvement in Qatari money, and of all other suspects in the affair, including figures in the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots, insofar as there is a legal basis for their arrest," Ben-Gvir stated.

השב״כ צריך להורות עוד הבוקר על מעצרם של ראשי המפלגות הערביות החשודים במעורבות בכסף קטארי, ושל כל יתר החשודים בפרשה, לרבות גורמים באחים המוסלמים ובגרורותיהם, ככל שקיימת עילה חוקית למעצרם. מדובר כאן ב-27 באוקטובר פוליטי!

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) October 29, 2026

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party also accused Arab political lists of orchestrating systematic electoral fraud during the Oct. 27 vote.

"The elections in the State of Israel were stolen by Arab parties that support terrorism and the destruction of the Jewish state through serious criminal offenses involving bribery, threats, violence, forgery, and the use of prohibited software to mobilize voters," Likud stated.

Arab lawmakers and opposition figures rejected the allegations, characterizing them as a coordinated attempt to delegitimize Arab political representation and contest an unfavorable electoral balance.

Mansour Abbas’s United Arab List (Ra'am) dismissed claims of electoral misconduct as unsubstantiated rhetoric intended to deflect from shifting parliamentary mathematics.