JERUSALEM: PM Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday a newly formed Israeli coalition that is poised to unseat him was the result of “the greatest election fraud” in the history of democracy.
He made his sweeping accusation at a time when Israel’s domestic security chief has warned publicly about the prospect of political violence.
Netanyahu focused his allegations on a broken campaign promise from the man set to replace him as PM, nationalist Naftali Bennett.
Bennett had pledged not to partner with left-wing, centrist and Arab parties, but on Wednesday announced with opposition leader Yair Lapid that they had formed a governing coalition with factions from across the political spectrum.
Under a rotation deal, Bennett will serve first as PM, followed by Lapid.
No date has been set for a vote in parliament to approve the new government, which follows an inconclusive March 23 election, but it is widely expected to be sworn in on June 14.
“We are witnessing the greatest election fraud in the history of the country, in my opinion in the history of any democracy,” Netanyahu said in comments to legislators of his right-wing Likud party.
“That’s why people justifiably feel deceived and they are responding, they must not be shut up,” he said in the remarks, which referred indirectly to Bennett’s campaign promise not to team up with Lapid and others.