Israel's Election Committee Certifies Results; Herzog Accepts Them and Will Begin Government Talks

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, accepted as legally binding the certified results of last week's parliamentary elections and said he would begin consultations with party representatives on forming a new government. Noam Sohlberg, a justice who chairs the Central Elections Committee, presented the final results to Herzog in Jerusalem. The committee said its review found no evidence of irregularities that compromised the integrity of the election or affected its results, after examining claims of fraud and foreign interference. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's religious-nationalist bloc lost its majority in the Knesset, while Arab-led parties made historic gains. Netanyahu and his supporters had made unsubstantiated claims that the Arab-led parties "stole" the vote, possibly with foreign help. Hours earlier, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said she had blocked a Shin Bet request to interrogate four politicians from Palestinian-led parties because she had been shown no evidence of wrongdoing, following a Haaretz report. Herzog must now meet party leaders to decide whom to name prime minister-designate.

The Guardian, the left-leaning outlet, leads with the election commission rejecting Netanyahu's fraud claims and spends most of its space on the surrounding conflict. It quotes challenger Gadi Eisenkot, who accused Netanyahu of a "pogrom against democracy," and quotes Baharav-Miara's rule-of-law statement on the Shin Bet request. The right-leaning Newsmax runs a short, neutral headline, "Israel's President Accepts Certified Election Results," and its excerpt covers only Herzog's acceptance and the coming consultations. It does not mention Netanyahu's fraud claims, Eisenkot or the Shin Bet episode in the text available. Both sides agree on the core facts: Herzog accepted the results and will open talks. The difference is emphasis. The left presents the story as a defense of electoral integrity against pressure from Netanyahu, while the right presents a procedural step. The Hindu and AP, grouped as alternative, match the AP framing of Herzog's acceptance as a blow to Netanyahu's fraud claim, and The Hindu adds the Arab-led gains.