Times of Israel, on Targeting, 27 October 2026

6.0out of 10Serious

Likud said already preparing to allege election was ‘stolen’ if Netanyahu loses

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party began preparing to challenge results from before voting opened Tuesday morning, with Hebrew news sites on Monday quoting Likud operatives as saying that the party has discussed the possibility of claiming the vote was “stolen” if Netanyahu does not win. According to a Channel 12 news report, Likud was already drawing up a number of complaints and allegations of fraud for voting stations in Arab communities.

Netanyahu’s party was reportedly readying to challenge women who show up to vote fully veiled as well as allegations that some polling stations have segregated voting times for men and women, having reportedly sent several thousand party activists to “monitor” . The broadcaster said such issues have been addressed by Central Elections Commission regulations, but that Likud was nevertheless preparing to allege fraud.

According to the Haaretz daily, the party has been preparing for a scenario in which it loses, and has discussed the possibility of alleging widespread fraud and claiming that the election was “stolen.” Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms “Let’s say a woman comes to vote wearing a burqa,” a Likud source told Haaretz, explaining the party’s concerns of potential voter fraud in Arab communities, “and then a few minutes later another woman comes wearing a burqa – maybe it’s the same one?

We’ll have to check and verify it.” Voters line up before a polling site opens to cast their ballots in Israel’s election, in Jerusalem, October 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) Haaretz noted that the party activists have no authority to ask voters to identify themselves outside polling stations, and said that the Likud source did not specify what they would do if a woman refused to identify herself to them. “In terms of preventing fraud in the Arab sector, we have made our greatest and most comprehensive effort,” the Likud source said.

Advertisement “Several discussions were held around the question of what to do in the event of a loss,” a source close to Netanyahu told Haaretz. “Unambiguous opinions were expressed in favor of a ‘the elections were stolen and rigged’ campaign,” they added, saying it would be similar to US President Donald Trump’s allegations of fraud against his predecessor, Joe Biden, in 2020. According to the report, Netanyahu was not personally involved in these discussions, but senior Likud officials are already “preparing the possibility” that the party will allege a stolen election if Netanyahu loses and is interested in contesting the results.

Netanyahu is “considering” that option, the report said. A supporter of the Likud party and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen at a cafe in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, October 15, 2026. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90) Civil rights groups have expressed concern over Likud’s plan to send thousands of activists to , since such activists will have no formal role and no authority to oversee the voting.

Given that the activists will have no official function, questions have been raised about what such people will do on election day. There are tight legal regulations on who can be present in polling stations and what they can do there, which police are required to enforce. Advertisement Central Elections Committee director general Dean Livne has said there is no evidence of widespread fraud in Israeli elections and that existing safeguards were sufficient, while Likud and the Religious Zionism party, which also said it would send observers, have not explained how they determined that Arab polling stations were at risk of fraud.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a liberal watchdog group, announced that it would be operating an election integrity hotline to report any violations of the elections law to authorities as they happen. Is our live election coverage important to you? Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the 2026 Israeli election? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will: Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock to report political developments as they unfold; Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and podcasts; and Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including our DocuNation series and weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.

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What we found (1)

The Times of Israel reports, from Channel 12 and Haaretz, that Likud planned to challenge results at polling stations in Arab towns and discussed claiming a 'stolen' election. It attributes the plan to named outlets and to Likud sources, and it prints the elections chief saying there is no evidence of widespread fraud. Throughout, in its own voice, it calls the voters targeted only Arab and never says that they are Palestinian citizens of Israel.

  1. Erases a people's national identity

    Serious

    “polling stations in Arab cities and towns”

    Why this matters
    In its opening sentence the outlet names the voters Likud planned to challenge only by the words "Arab cities and towns".
    The impression it gives
    A reader learns that the party's target is an Arab ethnic group inside Israel. The reader is not told that these citizens belong to the Palestinian people.
    The context
    Survey evidence shows that most Arab citizens of Israel describe themselves as Palestinian. The article never uses the word Palestinian anywhere.

    How we know

    • On the recordIn Sammy Smooha's April-June 2019 survey of 718 adult Arab citizens of Israel, including Druze and Bedouin, 61.9% chose a self-description containing Palestinian. This is historical survey evidence, not a 2026 percentage or proof of any individual's identity. Arab and Palestinian identities can coexist.newscord.org (opens in a new tab)
    • Our analysis“61.9% chose a description of themselves that included Palestinian”Palestinian citizens of Israel voted in record numbers
    • Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “Palestinian”.

    Show it in the article

    “polling sites in Arab-majority areas”

    Why this matters
    Here the outlet describes the places where Likud sent several thousand activists to "monitor" as "Arab-majority areas". It uses an ethnic label for the people whose ballots the party was singling out.
    The impression it gives
    A reader takes the monitoring as aimed at an Arab minority defined by ethnicity. The national identity of the people being watched at the ballot box stays hidden.
    The context
    The people at these polling sites are Palestinian citizens of Israel. Most of them identify as Palestinian, and the article never says so.

    How we know

    • On the recordIn Sammy Smooha's April-June 2019 survey of 718 adult Arab citizens of Israel, including Druze and Bedouin, 61.9% chose a self-description containing Palestinian. This is historical survey evidence, not a 2026 percentage or proof of any individual's identity. Arab and Palestinian identities can coexist.newscord.org (opens in a new tab)
    • Elsewhere in the article“polling stations in Arab cities and towns”

    Show it in the article

    “voting stations in Arab communities”

    Why this matters
    When it reports the concern raised by civil rights groups, the outlet again names the targeted voters only as "Arab communities".
    The impression it gives
    A reader understands the civil rights concern as one about an ethnic minority's polling stations. The reader does not learn that the dispute concerns Palestinian citizens voting in an Israeli election.
    The context
    In Smooha's 2019 sample, 61.9% chose a self-description containing Palestinian. This is a majority in that sample, rather than an overwhelming or current population estimate. The article's own labels omit Palestinian identity throughout.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    Likud began preparing to challenge results from polling stations in towns of Palestinian citizens of Israel, sending thousands of activists to monitor voting there, Channel 12 and Haaretz reported.

How other outlets reported it

Our analysisPalestinian citizens of Israel voted in record numbers

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